You're live.
Well, good afternoon. Welcome to city
council. Today is Tuesday, February 17,
2026. It's approximately 100 p.m. I'm
Mayor Eric Enriquez. Before we start, I
want to mention that we have a American
Sign Language interpreter up front and
they're with us at every city council
meeting.
If you all stand, please, I'd like to
start with a moment of silence for the
brave men and women of the United States
Armed Forces as they protect our
interests around the globe as well as
the courageous men and women of the Los
Cusus Police and Los Cruus Fire
Department.
Councelor Harris, if you'll lead us in
the pledge.
I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
for it stands one nation
with
all.
We'll go ahead and start with
presentations and proclamations.
Councelor Harris.
All right. Um, our first proclamation
this week is for National Engineers
Week. Uh, presented to David Franco,
EMTT Rivera, and Fernando Vasquez. If
you could join me up here.
All right. Thanks. Uh whereas February
23rd through 27th, 2026 is recognized as
National Engineers Week, a time to honor
engineers of all disciplines whose
creativity, technical expertise, and
problem solving advance innovation,
strengthen critical infrastructure, and
inspire a diverse and well-prepared
engineering workforce. And whereas El
Paso Electric employs more than 1,100
professionals, including over 150
engineers representing environmental,
electrical, mechanical, and civil
disciplines whose work supports the safe
and reliable delivery of electricity to
more than 40 460,000 customers across a
diverse multi-state region. And whereas
working in close collaboration with
field crews, operations teams, and
community partners, El Paso Electric
Engineers lead efforts to modernize the
electric grid, enable electrification,
integrate renewable and emerging energy
technologies, strengthen system
resilience, and responsibly prepare the
region's infrastructure for future
growth and innovation. hand. Whereas
engineers serve as leaders, mentors, and
role models by demonstrating how
technical knowledge can be applied to
improve quality of life, support
economic development, protect the
environment, and encourage students and
community members to pursue careers in
engineering and technology. Now,
therefore, we, mayor and city council of
Lasus, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim
the week of February 23rd through
February 27th, 2026 as National
Engineers Week.
There's
Good afternoon.
Thank you to the city of Las Cruus for
this honor. It is a privilege to
represent El Paso Electric during the
National Engineers Week. We are proud to
serve our New Mexico service area and
our broader regional communities with a
safe, reliable, and resilience energy.
This proclamation isn't just for our
team. It recognizes the dedication of
all engineers across the field.
This commitment to innovation, problem
solving, and public service strengthens
our infrastructure and helps our
community thrive.
On behalf of El Paso Electric and in
this appreciation of the engineer
professions as a whole, thank you for
your celebrating the impact engineers
make every day. Thank you.
All right. Um, next we have a
proclamation for support our healthcare
providers week and this will be
presented to Joanne Turnbull.
Um, wherever.
Sure. Sure. because I'm not the only one
that should be here.
Okay.
Rest of
Oh, I saw we got that one. There you go.
Thank you.
Hi, my name's Joanne Turnbull and the
rest I'd like to the steering committee.
Janet
Allison, come on up. And Juan
and Charlotte Lipson. Yeah.
Um, and you read, right?
I will read.
Okay. Thank you.
All right. Uh whereas the residents of
the city of Los Cusus and Donana County
deserve highquality health care and
whereas the severe shortage of
providers, particularly physicians, is a
primary obstacle to accessing health
care services. And whereas New Mexico's
high-risisk environment poses
significant barriers for physician
recruitment and retention. And whereas
the shortage has become a crisis that
deprivives citizens of access to timely
care. And whereas citizens whose health
disparities are made worse by financial,
racial, and accessibility constraints
suffer the most from the shortage. And
whereas the mayor and city councilors of
Los Cusus and commissioners of Donana
County support the health of our
community, we proclaim an educational
campaign to raise awareness about the
provider shortage and empower citizens
to advocate for improved access to
healthcare. Now therefore, we the mayor
and city council of Los Cusus, New
Mexico, do hereby pro proclaim this
week, February 16th through 20th, 2026,
as support our healthcare providers
week.
I want to thank the city council for
their support in this effort. Um, I
represent person as does all this group
here and actually all of you. Um there
are a thousand people who are working
with us now. And the idea is not a fight
between lawyers and physicians. It's
about access to health care for us.
Period. That's it. and what we've done
and hope you'll join us with this and um
thank you again city council because the
first city in New Mexico we hope
there'll be more um is to educate people
about the issues and second to
collaborate with people and form
partnerships and then to work with the
legislature. So thank you again
I'm sure
All right. And next, uh, we have a
proclamation for Pioneer Bank Day, uh,
presented to Savannah Mononttoya.
and everyone else in the entourage, of
course.
Um, there's fine. Yeah, we're good.
All right. Uh whereas for 125 years,
Pioneer Bank has served as a dedicated
community partner throughout
southeastern New Mexico, guided by its
mission to support the citizens,
businesses, and neighborhoods that shape
our region. And whereas Pioneer Bank
continues to strengthen the city of Los
Cusus by providing personalized
financial services, supporting small
businesses, and offering resources that
help families build financial stability
and long-term success. And whereas
Pioneer Bank invests in community
well-being through volunteerism and
philanthropy, partnering with nonprofit
organizations that address vital needs
such as youth services,
education, housing, food security, and
community development. And whereas
Pioneer Bank employees generously
employees generously volunteer as
mentors, coaches, board members,
advocates, and neighbors, exemplifying
the heart and values of true community
banking. And whereas Pioneer Bank
celebrates this milestone anniversary,
the city of Los Cusus recognizes not
only its 125-y year legacy, but also its
continued dedication to uplifting
communities, strengthening local
partnerships, and expanding
opportunities for all who call Los Cusus
and New Mexico home. Now, therefore, we,
the mayor and city council of Los Cusus,
New Mexico, do hereby proclaim February
18th, 2026 as Pioneer Bank Day.
All right. Finally, we have a
proclamation for government
communicators day presented to city of
Los Cruus's communications office.
Wherever you want to stand
everyone get in there.
All right. Whereas the role of
government communications professions is
to inform, educate, and engage in their
communities. And whereas robust
communication in government creates
trust and inspires residents to take
action and be involved. And whereas
government communications create
relationships and calls to action, build
awareness and understanding through
storytelling, engage and foster
engagement on civic issues, and use all
channels to include people in critical
decisions. hand. Whereas it is essential
to have strong communications in
government because it is a foundational
element of living in a democracy where
people have the freedom to make their
voice heard. And whereas Los Cusus is
proud and has deep gratitude and
recognition for government communicators
professionalism, dedication, hard work,
commitment, enthusiasm, and creativity.
Now therefore, we the mayor and city
council of Los Cusus, New Mexico, do
hereby do hereby proclaim February 21st,
2026 as government communicators day.
Of course,
thank you, Councelor Harris. Um, thank
you, Mayor, Council, for this
recognition. I'm Mandy. I'm the
communications director here at the
city. Um, and my team, as you can see,
you have I have an amazing group of
professionals that we work with. Um, we
do media, we do advertising, video,
digital, volunteer network, community
engagement, and as an extension of our
team, we have the police, public
information officers here as well. And
so, I just want to thank the departments
that we all get to work with because if
it wasn't for them and the amazing work
they do, we wouldn't have these stories
to tell. And I want to thank um the the
mayor and council for their leadership
and for valuing the work that our team
does. So, thank you very much. Now,
we'll squeeze in.
Yeah.
All right. That's it.
Yes. Next, we'll have uh assisted
assistant utilities director Carl Clark
come up do a brief presentation.
Thank you, mayor.
Um, so basically I'm presenting the CCR
here. This is the 2024. We'll be seeing
the 2025 uh numbers come. We have to
have them out by the 1st of July. That's
a requirement by the EPA. Um, this is uh
um mostly passed on as the what you need
to know about your drinking source. Um,
and so the CCR uh comes in English, but
our Spanish version is put online
immediately once we let the uh letter go
out that goes out once a year.
Um, the topic that we always have been
hearing about lately because of lead and
copper rulings is the lead. Um, and
basically in your CCR that you all
should have um once you flip over to the
third page it looks like you'll find at
the bottom of uh inorganic contaminants
and the uh just to talk about the
headings of what these are. The MLG the
maximum contaminant level goal is zero.
Obviously we'd love to have zero but the
allowable levels is 15 parts per
billions.
Um that's a hard number to think about
15 parts per billions. Um, I had to look
it up myself, but a good example was 1
second in 32 years. So, that's parts per
billions. So, that's the allowed level
uh that the EPA lets us have or the
action level. I apologize, action
levels. Um, our water is at two parts
per billions.
So, if you can think about that 1 second
in 32 years, that's how low of a a level
contaminant it is. And mostly and it
gives a typical source which is
corrosion of household plumbing. pretty
typical and uh erosion of natural
deposits. Natural deposits. So, lead is
a natural uh uh mineral in our world
right now. And so, uh you can pick up a
little bit of it in your drinking water
source because we pull from the ground.
So, there is you grab a large amount of
dirt, you'll find some lead in every
piece of dirt you grab. So, uh just to
let you know that like I said, um our
water has two parts per billions. So
once again, think about the the amount
of time that I just uh specified in
time. It's 1 second and 32 years. So
that's that's a big that's a big number
or a little piece in a large amount of
time. So this is the same thing. So it's
a very small number in a large amount of
water. So um
like I said, the CCR comes out every uh
around July. We have to have it done by
the end of June. We will have ours done
for 2025 by the end of June and then
it'll be put out for all our uh uh our
residents that are taking our water. Um
every other water system in the valley
here has to do the same thing as we're
doing. Um I think they don't go as far
as as what we do. You're only required
to advertise it. So you can advertise it
online on your website. You don't have
to mail them out, but we mail them out
to everybody. and and so uh we do a good
job of outreach and letting our
consumers know what is in their drinking
water. We have a whole list of other
items in here as well as you can see um
we don't have any exceedences
uh on our allowable limits which is a
good thing. Um we we maintain our water
system very closely and very uh with
very high standards. So we do know we
have our own water quality lab. However,
when these are put together, uh, we take
information that goes to the state, uh,
and then we pull the information off of
their website and that's based on our
samples that we sent them. They did the
sampling or the testing and then we pull
the information. So, it's a kind of a
third party. Uh, so I stand for any
questions that you may have in regards
to the CCR.
Uh, just real quick, Carl, could you um
again specify what the CCR is?
Yes. Consumer confidence report.
Correct. That's just for the public. I
mean, we have the report.
EPA requirement. Yes.
Okay. Thank you. Uh, Council Matise, you
had a question.
Call, kind of a a simple question I had.
I send it over, I think, to the
director. In some of these homes that
have been highlighted, you know, we've
had some questions about different homes
having the galvanized the old pipes.
Has their water been individually
tested? I know they're private homes,
but have they been tested by your
department
where there's mention of specific homes?
Yeah, Mayor, uh, Councelor Matise. So, I
I can't state which ones you're talking
about. I'm not sure what address it is,
but when we do the sampling, it is from
the home. So, that sample is then sent
to the state lab and then that they test
it. So to say, have we done every home
that you're talking about? I'm not sure
what houses or what homes you're talking
about, what the address is. So I
couldn't tell you. And then if even if
you spouted off an address, I'd have to
go back to records to see.
Okay. And and the reason I bring this
up, uh, you know, because of some of the
comments, I've had some residents be
concerned with, of course, you know, the
the quality of the water.
Correct.
And so if I give you specific addresses,
you can do that for me. You could s
sample those. Would that be?
Uh yeah, Mayor uh councelor Matise, if
you gave me the addresses, we can look
into that and see if that one has been
uh specifically sampled. You know, we
sample so many uh throughout the city in
the different uh zones or the different
uh water systems we have. I believe we
have five. So, we have to pull samples
out of every five. And there's just
random samples inside that in each one.
And those sent out,
as far as specific addresses, you would
do that. I'd have to go back and look at
the records as to where they were pulled
from.
Okay. Thank you.
Yes, sir. Um, also the CCR, the consumer
conference report, uh, got started about
26 years ago. We've been meeting our
requirements ever since then, and we
haven't had any actionable limits that I
know about,
and I've been with the city since 2003.
Okay. Thank you.
You're welcome. Thank you.
Next on the agenda is jobs of the week
as Sarah Rainey.
Thank you, Mayor Council. My name is
Sarah Rainey. the onetop coordinator for
the southwest region of America's job
center New Mexico. For jobs of the week,
we have a codes enforcement officer
starting for the city starting at 2224
and that position closes that posting
closes on the 30th. We have a utility
services worker one for the city
starting at 1807 an hour and it posting
closes on the 23rd. We have a broadband
sales account executive for Pinnacle
Institute. That one closes on the 3, I'm
sorry, on the 6th of March. A general
maintenance worker at Whismer through
Tresco. Um, so the placement is the job
is through Tresco and the placement is
going to be at White Sands Missile Range
starting at 1813 an hour and the job
posting closes in March. An
administrative director for Global
Construction LLC starting at 45,000
closing on the 1st of March. And then a
call center representative started at
Llinica de Familia at 4:15 an hour and
closing on the 27th.
And then just for one last time because
we are not going to continue our our
presentations here. I do want to point
out that um we are still looking for
volunteers for the Mockatilia rocket.
That's going to be at the end of March.
As of right now I have 21 volunteers.
Last year we had 75 volunteer
interviewers and it was not near enough.
We could use hundreds more. Honestly,
we're serving all of our juniors and
seniors across Donian County. So that's
Gatston, that's um all four high schools
here, the private schools as well, the
charter schools. So, please, anyone sign
up, go to employee&mm and you can click
on our events um tab and it'll send you
all the way through the through the
volunteer um registration. So, that's
definitely needed. And then just a note
that we are just because we're not going
to be here presenting weekly, we have
jobs that are posted daily. Please come
check out our site employeem.com. you
can find out more information about all
the all of the programs and partners
that we have here in the southwest, not
only Donana County, but across the
Southwest. Um, as well as the jobs that
are there daily. So, if you're looking,
want to change, want guidance, any of
that, please come see us. But we thank
you for your time.
Now, thank you, Sarah. Thank you for all
that you've done. And um we'll try to
get some volunteers for the uh
interviews. Yeah, come sign up. We do
have a couple of the council members
that have signed up already, so I do
appreciate it.
Okay, sounds good.
Awesome. Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is pets of the week. Uh
Carol,
good afternoon. I'm Carol Nelson,
digital content specialist with the
Animal Services Center of the Messia
Valley. This week, our dog of the week
is Zoro 93656 to look him up on our
website. I'm a big goofy puppy who's
been hanging out at ASMV for about 9
months now. I adore people and soak up
any attention I can get. I've still got
a bit of puppy energy just needing to be
channeled, and I can't really do that
here at the shelter. I really need a
home where I can run, play, and learn
the ropes of doggy life. Right now, I
get super excited, especially when
treats come into play. With a little
guidance and patience, I know I can
learn to be a good companion. If you
have room in your heart for a big puppy
with a goofy spirit, I'd love to meet
you.
And this week, for the first time, we
have actually highlighted guinea pigs uh
for our pets of the week, and they
actually already got adopted. So, we're
super excited for them because a lot of
times they don't get exposure. So, happy
for them. Um, and as always, we like
highlighting our long-term residents,
uh, because it's important they get out
as soon as possible because the longer
animals stay in shelter, it is harder
for them to thrive and they risk youth
in Asia. So, we would love for our
long-term residents to find homes. Hulu
has been with us 380 days. Farah has
been with us 335 days. Maddie was
actually adopted after 280 days at ASMV,
so we're celebrating that. and Lily has
been with us 293 days. So, all three of
those dogs that are still with us are
really good options for adoption as
well. Um, and to highlight some of our
upcoming events, this Saturday we will
be at Petco from 10 to 1. And then this
Sunday is actually one of our bigger
events, our drive-through vaccination
clinic. So, come on out for low and free
free and lowcost vaccinations. Uh, we'll
be there from 9 to 1 um at the Field of
Dreams parking lot. So bring your
animals because we would love more pet
safety in the community. And as always,
feel free to follow us on social media
or visit our website for more
information. Thank you.
Uh thank you, Carol.
Next is a conflict of interest. Does any
member of city council, city manager,
any member of the city staff have any
known conflict of interest with any item
on the agenda?
None.
None. None. No conflict.
Next is public participation will allow
up to three minutes. Uh no pending
litigation or items on the non-consent.
Uh please state your name and speak
directly into the microphone and Katrina
will assist you in coming to the podium.
Mayor, council, those here today, those
watching online, I'm Lyn Mo. I have new
analysis related to the city's
non-compliance with the lead and copper
rule and its failure to carry out its
promises when applying for $15 million
in funding. As you recall, the amount of
funding to be repaid relates to how
disadvantaged the population is. The
census tracked information the city uses
to determine whether a neighborhood is
disadvantaged is flawed. I'll illustrate
this regarding two neighborhoods with
which I'm familiar. The city has
designated Cedardale Loop, not far from
where I live on Mondale Loop, as
disadvantaged. Cedale has higher
property valuations than Manddale. Yet,
Cedale is disadvantaged and Montdale
isn't. Cedale has 54 properties on it.
42 have an estimated value of $300,000
or higher. As handout one indicates, the
median estimated value for all
properties on Cedardale is $326,000.
By contrast, Montdale has 41 properties
on it. Only two have an estimated value
of $300,000 or higher. See handout two.
The median estimated value for all
properties on Montdale is $276,000,
$50,000 lower than Cedardale. Setting
aside whether an 80% cut off for the
area median income the city uses is
appropriate, which is actually
insupportable, the data are inaccurate.
The maps are not trustworthy. It's
obvious that the median income for the
folks living on Cedardale is manifestly
higher than the median income for folks
living on Mandale. Nevertheless, Cedale
is classified as disadvantaged while
Montdale isn't. A house two doors away
from mine on Montdale Loop was until
recently used as temporary section 8
housing for lowincome people. Thus, our
lovely Montdale Loop neighborhood is
unwealthy enough to be selected for such
a house. But we're not categorized as
disadvantaged, nor should we be. I'll
say it again. Montdale should not be
designated disadvantaged. More
importantly, neither should Cedale with
its $50,000 higher median house
valuation. When walking around Cedale
with my dog, in addition to admiring
their nice houses and yards, we see the
vehicles parked in their driveways. My
dog would especially like to admire some
of those vehicles up close. We've seen
two or three Teslas, a couple of Lexus
cars, and a Porsche. All these folks on
Cedardale are likely good people. I know
a couple of them. In no sense, though,
are they disadvantaged. The point is,
the census tracks the city is relying
upon are inaccurate and filled with
obvious errors. This means the city must
rectify its analysis and give a more
discerning look at the properties in
each neighborhood before pronouncing any
of them disadvantaged. The disparities
between Cedale and Montdale Loop are
relatively small compared to many other
neighborhoods we've found. We'll
delineate some of those injustices for
you at future meetings. Thank you for
this opportunity to speak.
Mayor, city council, I'm Liz Rodriguez
Johnson. It continues to be extremely
disappointing that Lascus' Utilities is
failing to comply with the federal lead
and copper rule, which requires that
disadvantaged neighborhoods be
prioritized for pipe inspection in lead
pipe removal if lead is found. Today, we
continue our efforts to stand up for the
disadvantaged in our community, the ones
who genuinely struggle and need help.
We're endeavoring to help Lasus's
utilities focus and actually inspect
first the genuinely disadvantaged folks
whose properties valuations are on the
lowest end of the scale here in the
city. Research indicates that property
valuation should be considered when
determining whether a neighborhood is
disadvantaged. I don't think anyone can
make a straight-faced argument that
someone owning and living in a $300,000
house is disadvantaged.
We're sharing our research to assist the
city to do the right thing. Leus says
utilities should work on the following.
First, remove from the disadvantaged
list all properties with high estimated
valuations on the street we've recently
described that are plainly not actually
disadvantaged and whose designations are
clearly based on incorrect data. Sad
loop, Cortella, and Cedardale Loop.
There are many more high-value
properties that should also have no
place on the disadvantaged list, but
these are three these three streets are
a good place to start. Second, for the
time being, conduct inspections,
investigations
only at genuinely disadvantaged
properties absent an overriding reason.
Handout A is comprised of 10 properties
with valuation estimates less than
$100,000.
Handout B is a partial list of
properties with estimated valuations of
less than $200,000 organized by street.
It has 42 properties listed which
matches the number of inspections
utilities personnel conducted the first
week of November 2025. We're passing
these along to the utilities department
so we can get to work right away helping
the truly disadvantaged.
Third, at long last, include in the
inventory and on the map all the
properties that have been left out,
starting with the mobile home
communities that show no water hookups
whatsoever on the map. Handout C is one
example. These are probably the most
disadvantaged properties in all of
Lasus, which Lasus' utilities has
steadfastly ignored. Credibility is
completely absent if the disadvantaged
list does not include those mobile home
properties while at the same time
including properties valued at $300,000
and higher. Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of council. I uh
never really enjoy coming here because I
always feel like it's to tell you the
things that I feel like you're doing
wrong. Um I wish it were less things
that you were doing wrong.
For the record, state your name.
You want to state it for me.
Israel. Thank you.
Thank you.
Um
this is for Mr. Re so you can look this
up later, but I want to make sure that
you know that Colonia's Development
Council versus Rhino Environmental
Services is a Supreme Court case uh in
which the government was required to
take public comment. Now, again, the
city went around town and solicited
public comment of of members of the
public, and I showed up to that, and the
city seems to have decided that it's
going to completely ignore that public
comment. It's going to do an entirely
new list of things it decided to do with
the money that that it is it is
basically stolen from from the public in
the increase in in gross receipts. Um
the proposed training center that you
all want to do what didn't even make the
top 10 and all of the things that the
public came out and asked for is not
being prioritized. The city has to
prioritize those things. So, I'm coming
to request you do that, but I'm also
coming to warn you that if you don't, I
have nothing better to do than make your
lives very difficult legally. And I'm
sure I can find members of the public
who will speak later who would like to
hold the city accountable for not
recognizing the public input that was
put into that those sessions. And so
just to take a little bit from the uh
from that case that New Mexico
governments when they are required to do
take public comment should closely
consider that information and I quote
from the case relating to the
community's quality of life. That's what
you asked for in your public comments.
That's that's from directly from the
Rhino Services case. The community
should always be afforded a reasonable
opportunity to provide in its input in
projects and as was required in the
Rhino Environmental Services case,
quote, the com that the community be
given a voice and the concerns of the
community be considered in the final
decision-making. It appears to me that
the city has decided to bypass final
decision-making. it is required to take
that public comment. And if it does not,
then there will be consequences and
accountability because it appears to me
that the legislative branch of this
government is unwilling to hold
accountable the in my view feckless and
somewhat useless executive branch of the
city. And if the if the council won't do
it, the council won't hold its its
executive branch to account because
either it is unable or unwilling, then
the public will. we have the means. Um,
just because your third branch of
government is a municipal court that
you've sort of shunted off to upstairs
doesn't mean that we can't use district
court. And and it would be my view that
if the city continues to ignore the
public, then the public will take those
actions needed. You can chew your lip
all you want, mayor. You have to listen
to me, and I hope you will.
Good afternoon, Mayor Council. My name
is Maryanne Hendrickson. I'm a citizen
of District 3. Almost exactly 20 years
ago, I moved here following 26 years of
service in the United States Navy.
Almost instantly,
I was embraced by my community. My
neighbors brought me cookies, food,
anything I needed, helped me with
information. I was wrapped in Cadinho
from the first day I walked here.
However, I was surprised to recently
learn that in no early November of 2024,
the city manager signed direction for a
new public-f facing equal opportunity
statement
and public mention and that added TTY,
which I think is great. Yet, it removed
public mention of the following
protected classes:
color, national origin, sexual
orientation,
gender identity, and religion.
I've communicated with the HR department
for almost a month and never have gotten
an answer to why the city removed
those groups of protected classes and
yet not others. What criteria was used
to select those?
So with the change in statement, the
city has negated the contributions of
me, my family members, friends,
neighbors, probably the majority of the
city.
What I'm asking from this city is fairly
simple and easy to do. I'm asking the
mayor
to direct the mayor and council direct
the city manager to restore the previous
listed protected classes and keep the
TTY statement. Let's restore the
muchneeded cadinho to our city. Thank
you.
Good afternoon, Council Donna Striker.
The GRT was discussed at length. I was
at most of those meetings. I also went
to the uh meetings that the city held
throughout the city and I saw a lot of
interesting things that happened at
there. I saw a lot of people that were
not from those districts and they went
to every single meeting and in my
opinion, my humble opinion, that was to
sway with a gentleman previously stated
as public input.
The GRT
discussed at council, the GRT discussed
at work sessions last year, what was
that money to be used for? And there was
not one time that it was one single
recipient.
It was several different recipients.
The chief did a very good job of uh
addressing and um presenting on a
academy that would not only benefit this
city but would also benefit other
agencies, law enforcement agencies and
also help attract candidates. I don't
remember hearing or seeing and watching
in council, especially work session of a
week ago that all the money was going to
go to one place. Perhaps I'm blind,
deaf, and dumb, but I did not see that.
So, I apologize if I missed it somehow.
I would like to ask the council to
continue considering recipients for the
GRT, one of which I would like to see an
academy. I think that our community
deserves it. I think candidates deserve
it. And if any of you have actually seen
what the academy looked like, you would
not let your dog probably live there.
I would also like to address something
that has been weighing heavy on my mind.
I am 70 years old and I have never come
to council and sworn or clicked my
fingers or snapped or been
disrespectful, degrading, threatening or
slanderous towards anyone. Um, I also
have never had disruptive remarks or
gestures or noises from myself or the
people that I am working with.
We tend to act like adults. And I
remember hearing one person say, "Well,
if the president can swear, what are you
12? Do you really need to act
inappropriately because someone else
did? This isn't high school. These are
adults. These are professionals and
these are politicians. And I expect and
I deserve to be treated kindly and
respectfully by the audience as much as
my council people deserve and should
expect to be treated appropriately. I am
really glad I'm not hearing any clicking
or snapping because it only indicates
your lack of intelligence as does
swearing because you have nothing better
to say than bad words. Thank you.
Hi, my name is Jose Carrera.
I'm not a good public speaker. I
apologize. Bear with me. Um, I'm the
president of uh, Precision Technology.
Um, I moved to Las Cruises
uh, about 30 years ago. I came to visit
a friend. I fell in love with this town.
So I decided to start my business here.
Okay. I started this business at a
friend's garage. Uh the business I'm in,
I supply
uh products to the automotive industry
and I export 100% of what I manufacture
all over the world. Okay. Um
I employ between 30 and 50 employees
in the past 25 years.
Uh, I have sold over $75 million worth
of product. In the past 25 years, I've
generated over $40 million worth of
payroll, which of course everybody
benefits for that, especially because
this is money that's coming from outside
the country.
I've never taken any special programs
where I'm being financially assisted,
none of that. So this is strictly money
that's from outside the country coming
back to the to the country. Um I've been
involved with uh with NMSU
helping programs working with them uh
hired engineers from NMSU. I've been
recognized by you guys as a very
important manufacturing facility.
Um, the reason I'm speaking is because I
have heard some very negative comments
about our police force and specifically
about chief of police story and it
really bothers me because out of the 50
employees that I have basically
it it has a repercussion of about 200 to
250 people.
So anything in this town
uh that happens I get affected by it
with a multiplication of 250 times. It's
not like some people that complain it
turns out that they just have a problem
with chief of police or something
insignificant like that. Okay. So to me,
what our first responders do is that
with that many amount of employees, I'm
I have problems.
I have situations where I need them.
Every single time that I have called our
police officers to come in, they show up
instantly and they are only assisting
me. It's inc. It's We need to appreciate
what what they do for us 100%. I wish I
had more time. Sorry.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Elaine
Prriket and I'm with Rio Grande
Honorflight and I wanted to come and
share with the council today some of
what we do. We're a 5013
um nonprofit organization and I know
Councilman Matise is familiar with us,
Chief Daniels is familiar with what we
do and Mayor Enriquez. Uh Honorfly is an
organization that takes World War II
Korean and Vietnam veterans to
Washington DC to see the memorials that
were built in their honor. Many of these
veterans will not have the opportunity
due to financial and physical needs. Um
but that is not our goal is to give them
a tour. Our goal is to bring closure and
healing. One of the vets after being on
this trip. I'm going to try not to cry.
Tony, I feel like I'm part of American
society again. And in America, we should
never have a veteran feel that way. And
so that is our goal to try to change
that. Many of our veterans find closure
and healing on this trip. and they are
many of them have even had their mission
honor flight mission engraved on their
columbarium because it meant so much to
them. Families have said that they are
changed and we are changing families as
well when we take them on this trip.
Some of the things that we need help
with of course is sustaining um
financial support and we also need help
with um volunteers. All of our veterans
are taken to Washington DC, have a
Guardian. Guardian pays pays their own
way of $1,200 and so does the crew. We
pay our own way. The veteran goes
absolutely free on this 3-day trip to
Washington. The guardian is there to
push the wheelchair, carry their oxygen
concentrator, help them in any way that
they need. If they need help in the
room, um getting to the bathroom, we
find guardians that are willing to do
that. That is part of our mission to
take care of them. Um,
one of the big things that we're trying
to do that's been a goal of mine that I
have a dream of is make, you know,
having a welcome home for our veterans.
Many of these veterans never got the
welcome home they deserved. They were
spit on, had feces, balloons thrown at
them and urinated on. That is not the
way our warriors should be treated. Uh,
we would like Honorfly in Los Cusus to
become a household name that every year
everybody is saying, "When is the
Honorflight going out out and when are
we going to line the streets to welcome
them home?" One veteran said,
"Ela, all I ever wanted to hear was
those two little words, welcome home."
So, what I'm asking for today is an
opportunity to come back and do a formal
presentation to this group so we can
determine how the city of Los Cusus may
be able to help bring these veterans
home. One veteran the night of the
banquet came up to me in tears and he
said, "I feel like
a Mac truck has been lifted from my
chest and I can finally breathe again. I
have not been able to breathe since I
came home from Vietnam.
Thank you.
Is it okay if I give you guys a pin? Can
I a pin? Can I give Okay.
Well, good afternoon. My name is Master
Sergeant Perry Ashby, United States Air
Force retired. I'm one of those veterans
she was talking about. Um, they called
us yellow jackets for some reason. I
haven't figured that out yet. But, um, I
was an 18-year-old child when I went to
Vietnam. I enlisted when I was 17. Um, I
went to Vietnam and I thought, "Hey,
this is going to be an an exotic
adventure, but it was far more than
that." U, we worked 12 hours a day,
seven days a week for 353 days in a row.
And I work in a photo reconnaissance
outfit and body counts were a big deal
back in those days. And my job was to
blow up the pictures so they can count
the pieces parts and add up their their
body counts for the day. it. I had to
see and experience death up close on a
real uh uh
way that I had never even experienced. I
I came from Anaheim, California,
Disneyland. I was just a a kid when I
went there and uh I got to see more
death and destruction and just inhumane
things that a child should never have to
see. If anybody ever goes to Washington
DC, they have a monument there. And the
biggest number of people on that
monument, 33,000 people have a they died
when they were 18 years old over there
out of 53,000 people. So I came back
from Vietnam and like she said, there
was no welcome home. There was no big
surprise. There was no nothing. Um I was
just told, "Don't wear my uniform off
the base. Keep your head down and don't
brag about what what you've been doing."
And I lived with that for I spent 20
years, three months and 14 days in the
Air Force, but who was counting? Then
after that, I got a job with North of
Grumman on the B2 stealth bomber and the
F-35 air aircraft. And I also uh worked
there for another 20 years, but I still
had this uh nightmares every night,
afraid to go to sleep because that's
when the bad guys came out. Um I've been
in treatment for 15 years. And then I
heard about this thing called Honor
Flight. very free trip to DC. I'm for
it. And we got there, it was much more
of a not an adventure or a tourist site.
But when we got to the Vietnam Memorial,
I can't go down there. There's a lot of
ghosts down there that I'm still afraid
of. This is the reason I can't sleep at
night. And they have this little song
that they sing about welcome home. And
then each one of the staff members would
come up and give you a hug and and tell
you welcome home. It took 52 years for
somebody just to come up and give me a
hug and say, "Welcome home." And those
words meant a lot. And out of those 15
years of of of counseling I've gone to,
that one weekend, just like I say,
lifted a a big load off my chest, I came
back and I was I told Miss Lane that
anything you need to have done, I'm
willing to do whatever it is. And I've
been a volunteer. I'm one of the board
of directors now. and we thank you for
your time.
Good afternoon, Mayor Council. My name
is Steve Montenez. I want to use just a
few seconds of my time to tell the
public and this council that if you have
never had an opportunity to attend a
welcome home ceremony at the airport or
or here in town, I highly recommend you
do it. It is absolutely life-changing.
these veterans, Elaine and the work that
she does, they they changed my life and
I will tell you it is one of the most
life-changing experiences and you will
never forget it.
What I want to talk a little bit about
today and uh what you're going to hear a
lot of later today, it's definitely
going to come from a very well organized
group. a very wellorganized group that
just yesterday crashed a conservative
group at the NMSU campus crashed a
border patrol recruit recruitment booth
at a job fair and quised caused quite
the scene at Donian County when they
didn't get their way these special
interests have received their share of
funding. It's now time to look at other
concepts that our city desperately needs
especially regarding public safety. I'll
state for the record chief story I've
never met you or we've met before. I've
never actually sat down with either of
them. So there's no in there's no real
influence here other than what I've seen
and what I've observed.
I know that
uh you know again this is this is just
coming from my observations. I did a
little bit of research on the 2025
legislative priorities uh you know that
that our city lobbyists are are up in
Santa Fe working for. That includes uh
again renovation of the Branding
Library, legacy legacy parks, fly parks,
a local solar access fund, museum of
nature and science redesign. These are
all great priorities. They really are in
2024 funded
um you know a lot of these were uh
included um
included what I just mentioned,
especially regarding Brandan and a lot
of public parks. Uh there was no mention
in 2024 of uh police or public safety in
2024 or 2025. Other expenditures, $60
million downtown alone, pickle ballar
courts again, Brandan
where regardless where it's coming from,
EV charging stations, the Amador, uh we
can talk about expenditures to 828
productions to film Los Mos Cruises. The
list can go on and on regarding what
these special interests have asked for
and what they've received. And I will
say that I'm also grateful for in some
cases I may not agree, but I'm grateful
for. So I'm here just to tell you, just
to advise,
stand your ground when it comes to
public safety. Stand your ground when it
comes to the public interests, you know,
of of our citizens. And quite often if
you ask them, is it public safety or is
it what's on this list that I just read,
many of them, many of you will say it's
public safety. Um, I I do appreciate you
taking the time to listen to all sides.
I will stay respectful. Again, when they
don't get their way, this is how they
behave. Just be ready for it. Thank you.
Good afternoon, city council. My name is
Eddie Thomas.
I'm here to let you know that I am um
vehemently
uh uh opposed to the uh councelor
Bencomo
uh staying on the uh council. I
respectfully ask for her resignation.
She is heading up a group and it's
probably the reason she's not here.
She's in Santa Fe, I believe, heading up
a group that uh is a group of trial
lawyers that are against SB99, which is
you all know the medical malpractice
uh uh reform bill. Okay. My 87year-old
mother lives with me. Okay. She thank
God she's in great health, but she's got
doctors here. Okay. It seems that uh
councelor Beno's efforts are are we're
we're chasing the doctors away from the
state of New Mexico. Okay. Pretty soon
we're not going to have any doctors to
go to. Luckily, we only live 40 miles
away from El Paso where we can find
doctors if so needed. But uh that that
goes against everything I stand. Uh,
another issue that I have with her is,
um, she seems to either openly or behind
the scenes oppose everything that
Chief's story has stood for. Luckily, we
won in several cases, one of them being
the shopping cart uh, ordinance that was
uh, passed. Another thing that uh, goes
against me is the abortion facility that
was uh, recently defeated. Um,
I don't know if you all notice, but
there is a lot of Catholic churches in
this area. Okay. Uh,
last time I checked, the Pope is
pro-life. All right. And so, I believe
that she is not with the people. She's
not uh she's tonedeaf. She's not
listening to the her constituents. And
so very uh I was very gladdened by the
fact that none of the concrete
contractors
bid on that on that project and the
abortion facility was defeated. So I
seem to find myself at odds with
everything that she stands for. She's uh
she's mostly pushing her radical uh
leftist liberal uh agenda here and I
totally oppose it and so I respectfully
ask for her resignation. Thank you.
Mayor Council Juan Garcia, at the
February 2 council meeting, the attorney
for A28 stated he was limited to five
minutes and not allowed a presentation
while the city took nearly 24 minutes,
including a full presentation. There
were contractual issues. I got it. But
why was 828's request denied when the
city faced no such restrictions?
This inconsistency raises questions
about transparency. Citizens deserve to
hear both sides. The council owes the
public an explanation. Additionally, in
paraphrasing
and ex and paraphrasing the 828 CEO's
comments, in just 18 to 24 months, LCPD
was called over 100 times. One employee
was even chased by someone wielding a
machete. It's no wonder many of our
properties are too dangerous to develop.
The bowling alley, for example, is
impossible to keep secure. Every time we
show it, and to an actor, producer, or
director, we worry about running into an
illegal camper. At this point, a
counselor cut in. "I knew where this was
going," she stated. In other words, the
elephant in the room. "The city's crime
problem was becoming impossible to
ignore, and the CEO's comments were
making that obvious. So rather than
address the crime issue and the impact
to this business, the blame shifted. Who
interrupted? The same counselor who once
said, and I quote, "I have little
sympathy for Walmart and their stolen
property. That says everything about
support for Lasus's businesses." And I
continue, "The latest scandal resembling
ballot stuffing is troubling." In a rec
recent New Mexico in-depth article,
Representative Sarah Silva reported
getting a barrage of emails from
supposed constituents opposing medical
malpractice reform. The odd part, at
least five people told her they never
sent the messages. Another law maker
lawmaker got a pile of 50 printed
emails. She called every name and not a
single person said they'd sent one.
Silva said Naomi Valdez, a lobbyist for
New Mexico safety overp profofit
confirmed the email she received came
from the group which has opposed
malpractice reform. New Mexico safety
overprofit is at it again. This is a
dark money group run by trial lawyer
allies who oppose reform and their
executive director is right here on this
council. Councelor Becomo who once sat
in this chambers and lied about a local
resident doxing council members is the
one running this group. I will not be
threatening or rude like a previous
speaker was but I ask the counselor do
the right thing. Please please resign.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. Uh, yes, Yoli, you
requested four minutes. Okay, it's
granted.
Thank you. Good afternoon, mayor,
counselors, everyone. My name is Yoli
Diaz. I have continued to send you
emails to keep you informed of present
and past issues that affects the
present. I've provided solutions.
Problems in accessing healthc care at
Memorial Medical Center were exasperated
per documents from Donana County and
from Memorial Medical Center to Donana
County in year 2014 when MMCCO John
Harrison forced an aggressive and
immediate expense reduction and revenue
enhancement which defines the opposite
of quality patient care. in year 2015 by
MMC updating their chat policy and
discriminated against a group of Donana
County residents by following the
current Memorial Medical Center upfront
cash collection policy and as as a last
resort collect the Medicare reasonable
and customary fee upfront before
services are provided. and in year 2016
by MMC updating the chat policy again by
removing cancer care regardless of
cancer being included in the asset
purchase agreement. You may recall my
recent email request to MMC Dennis MMC
CEO Dennis Knox. He doesn't answer all
of my questions, but he does provide a
bogus financial assistance policy. I let
him know that he is required to post an
annual report required by New Mexico
statute. the Patients Debt Collection
Protection Act which was enacted
effective July 1, 2021. MMC COO Dennis
Knox notify me of the website changes
January 29, 2025. MMC adds the statute
required annual report. However, MMC
leaves out the most pertinent section
indigent care data. Was this accidental?
Was this willful concealment? Being that
MMC CEO Dennis Knox did not provide the
details of my requested data, I believe
it's willful concealment. I know MMC
violated New Mexico law when they did
not have their annual report on their
website for four years. Fiscal year 2024
being incomplete may still violate New
Mexico law as MMC's le half lesser.
Please don't allow them to violate New
Mexico statutes. by April. I requested
the annual reports from the state. MMC's
fiscal year 2024 report shows 110
indigent claims. Fiscal year 2023,
103 indigent claims. Fiscal year 2022,
127 indigent patients. And fiscal year
2021,
133 indigent patients. These numbers are
are per year and seem extremely low for
our low-income and high uninsured
county. Let's compare other hospitals
annual indigent claims and patients for
fiscal year 2024. Mountain View right
here in Los Cusus with that has less
than Memorial Medical Center beds of 199
with 168 has 4,152
indigent claims. Presbyterian Santa Fe
3,665
Lincoln County Medical Center in Rioso
2,235
Plains Regional in Clovis 4,41.
Sooto General 1,250.
That's a population of 16,000 with 24
beds. Mimres memorial or neighbors
indemning 1,310.
So I really hope that you understand
when I say terminate Live Point and
bring in an operator that really cares
about quality patient care to all Donana
County residents. Thank you. I have 11
seconds left.
Hello, mayor, council. My name is Trent
Christopher. Uh, I am from here. I work
here. I work at Memorial Medical Center.
Uh,
I I I I want to open by saying that we
are all living in the same city. uh we
are all seeing the same thing. Um I I
mentioned that I live here not for
sentimental reasons but just so that you
know that I've seen the development of
the city over the past 20 years the same
as anyone else has. Uh we are seeing the
poverty we are seeing the crime and as a
result of that I was happy that the city
came to the people and held
excuse me
and held votes all over town. um
determining how the GRT money would be
used. I attended in my district. I
promise I just attended in my district.
Uh I don't think that election got
stolen.
Uh and unfortunately it seems like the
priorities there have been largely
ignored. Uh there was
at least when I went absolutely no
stickers on
the LCPD side of the board. People are
wanting almost overwhelmingly wanting
improvements to the library,
improvements to water infrastructure,
improvements to the roads, uh community
programs for the youth. I believe that
this is the
primary, this is the priority of the
people right now is to
take actions against crime that are
other than policing. LCPD received $38
million of the budget in fiscal year
2025. This is by far the largest share
of the budget that LCPD received. Uh
they they haven't
lost money ever. Uh they're every year
getting more and more money.
I think we should use the money from the
GRT increase for what the people asked
for. Uh that seems simple. Anything
other than that is circumventing the
democratic process that you did. Uh,
if we don't give the people what they
clearly asked for,
then I would ask the council, "Next
time, don't bother asking." Thank you.
Hello,
Lindley Hornsby for the record. Here to
comment on um the priorities that our
community shared with you all for our
GRT um this shared resource to improve
our city.
And we saw priorities such as libraries,
rec centers,
um water infrastructure support, road
maintenance,
restoration of the WIA building, more
support for senior centers and
affordable housing.
Um and the common thread between a a lot
of those is we're um the community is
asking to use our shared resources for
more third spaces. Um, third spaces are
community spaces outside of work,
school, and home. Um, I think some of
what we saw in the data from the
community feedback is that the community
loves our city of Los Cusus libraries,
parks, and trails, and the public voted
for more of those for our growing city.
Uh, not funding for more police
training. Um there was some support for
repair of the fire station. Um but that
doesn't necessarily have to relate to a
public safety police training center.
Police and fire can be separate, though
they're often allied. Um the community
certainly doesn't see it that way. Um,
we need more third spaces um that will
benefit all of the community and
especially youth in our community who
say that there's not enough safe spaces
um for youth in our community. Uh youth
continue to be scapegoed
um and criminalized in our community and
um we need more spaces for youth, not
incarceration.
Um so really just encouraging this
council to look closely at the data. Um
the stickers were great like community
enjoyed um participating that way. It's
really clear to see um what we're
prioritizing here and it's um I believe
the public safety training facility
didn't make the top 10.
Right. So um that that's significant. So
if um that training facility comes up as
a high priority in the budget that this
council approves, that means it's not
coming from the community, it's coming
from somewhere else. Um and our
community is active and here today
watching and really wanting to see you
all make decisions that reflect um what
we want to see in our community, the
resources that we are bringing together
in our increased taxes. Um,
thank you.
Um, my name's Gar Moanway here from Los
Cruus and all that. I did want to
continue with what was said. I did want
to pull up the specific information of
what were the top 10 most voted things
our community wanted. And amongst that
is water treatment, our spaces, our rec
centers, and all of these places that we
are part of. And security is only barely
making the top of the list primarily in
maintaining the things that are already
there. P primarily vehicles and
maintenance including for the fire
station. But it seems for a great
majority of people, the care is to make
spaces to be in and to exist in this
town. I would like to see more people
outside and about and being part of
these spaces. We're lucky we have some
of the parks we have, some of the few
spaces, heck, even New Mexico State
University in in a way. But we still
need reasons to be outside. We still
need reasons to be part of these
communities and having safe places where
we feel like we can all come to. And
there's always eyes around us, not of
security or police, but of other people
around us. One of the big concepts for
keeping a safe city is to have it
walkable and having eyes on the street.
The more places we have to go and more
places we can come together, the more
eyes we have on our spaces. We had an
example brought up of a space that they
couldn't even work on that was an
abandoned space because it was the only
place those people could go. But if we
have more spaces, more places where more
people are at, we don't have to worry
quite as much about the security. I do
ask we focus on making places to in some
place secure then work on making more
security for the few places we have. I
think we need places to exist to be a
community to be a place as a whole and
we already have stuff we still need to
take care of the library the rec centers
we still need more and we still have to
do better with the places we do have. So
I hope you guys will reconsider your
decision into making this facility for
the future. Thank you.
Can you hear me?
Hello, Mayor Council. Uh, my name is
Gabriel Bicus. I want to take this
opportunity to number one, thank you for
this forum and this venue. This is the
very foundation that the American
Constitutional Republic is built on. And
this this opportunity is critical both
for our community and for the grassroots
movement that keeps American u way of
life viable. So thank you.
I primarily want to start with a
statement of of support.
Number one, to Chief Story and the Los
Cusus Police Department,
especially in the face of an environment
that is not always supportive, uh often
openly openly um oppositional.
These are not individuals who
who come from somewhere removed, right?
They're our neighbors. They're our
brothers and our sisters. They're
individuals who shop at the same places
we do, go to church at the same place as
we do. Their children attend the same
school as ours.
So, I think a big part of what we need
to do is we need to take a step back and
reassess this narrative that we've built
of us versus them. We are a community.
We're one community. We're one people.
We have to be in this together.
Additionally, I'd like to talk about the
the funding difference between the the
GRT and the and the GO bond.
The GRT is very specifically approved
largely for public safety, whereas the
GO bond is general obligation funds that
can be used for anything deemed
necessary in the county. Right? It's
it's very important that we keep that
delineation very clear.
funds that are that are obligated for
public safety need to be used for public
safety. The GRT proposal to to build an
an improved facility both for the fire
department and for the police office
is not an ambiguous request for funds.
It is very well articulated and very
well planned.
Number one, it it'll increase public
safety by providing better u better
training and better skills and better
capability for our officers. This
creates a safer environment for
everyone. Number two, Chief Story talked
about making this facility open to the
public for recreation.
That is that's a big morale boost,
right? It also creates a safer
environment to prevent some of the
illegal activity that's that does make
uh some of these u different racing
environments a little less safe. And
number three, he talked about opening
this up to u to film or for other
agencies who would pay to use that
facility, thus bringing in income to the
city. So right now we find ourselves in
an environment that almost everyone here
who's spoken has agreed is unaffordable,
unsafe, and unfree.
Let's fix that.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. My
name is Lucas Hearnen for the record.
Um, I attended last week's work session
and was um surprised I was surprised to
see the staff presentation um indicating
what the city's priorities were based on
um GRT spending. um because I attended
most of those uh public meetings that
the city held last year and I attended
the meetings before that where the
community came and asked the city to
hold those meetings because up until
that point um it wasn't clear exactly
how the process was going to go for the
way the city was going to expend those
funds. And I attended the council
meetings after those public meetings
where staff presented the data in a raw
form um albeit a troubling form by
clever use of statistics
um and um yeah so I was surprised I was
surprised last week to come and see the
priorities listed out by staff not
reflective of the community's desires
based on those community meetings or the
staff's initial presentation last fall.
Um, and so I am here today to follow
through on that and to um re-up my
commitment to remain vigilant and
engaged as many of us are. Um,
it is uh ironic to be uh insinuated that
I am somehow a part of something more
organized than the people who are
literally wearing little name badges on
their shirts for their club that they
meet every Thursday at Kitchen Craft on
Telshore. Um, just in case we want to
talk about groups of people who are
organized.
Um,
this community
continues to show up and show out for
each other. We keep us safe
and shared spaces are part of that.
Arguably, one of the most beautiful
things in Los Cusus is the farmers
market. It was when I was a kid and we
still had the we didn't have the the
main street back through town. It was
covered. We had those brick planters. It
was still a public space and it was it
was it in its own way wonderful. It's
better now. Change can happen and we can
make things better.
Change doesn't mean things are bad.
I know that I often have a particular
agenda that I come up here with. And
while I think there are a lot of things
to be said about that right now, I
mostly want you to listen. I want you to
listen to the calls of this community,
the calls that you went and sought and
have the data to respond to that we want
parks and recck centers and safer roads
and cleaner water and those are
beautiful things and we can support
those. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Spencer
Taylor. I'm from District 2. I'm a
former NMSU professor and currently in
my final semester of master of social
work. Um I'm also here to speak on the
issue of the GRT funds. Um so the first
thing is we need to listen to the
community. I think it's been said many
times in many different ways. I think we
understand the community wants resources
especially at a time when some of our
higher levels of government like the
federal government are taking resources
away from us. It's really important that
in our local levels we get some of the
resources back on our investment and
these types of resources are we looking
for proactive resources. We're looking
for things to give us accesses to third
space like we've said. Um we're also
looking for um parks and wreck
resources, improved water, um things
that the community sees directly.
Um, and then I think it's really
important that we let go of this
narrative of police equals safety.
Police may be um, a part of what we put
out for safety, but um, a lot of data
shows that police don't inherently equal
safety. Increased funding for police,
increased training for police don't
inherently equal safety. Actually, the
resources that we're all calling for are
the things that increase safety,
decrease crime. When people have
opportunities to engage in healthy ways,
engage in ways that are creative, engage
in ways that are connective to each
other in the community, um then you see
decrease in crime, then you see increase
in safety because in situations like
that, you are essentially being
proactive and you're not reacting,
right? You have situations where um
community members are building
connections with each other. It's not as
if people commit crime just wake up one
day and go, I want to commit crime
because I just feel like doing bad
things. Usually, it's out of
desperation. Usually, it's out of a
situation where you're lacking
something. Lacking connection to your
community, lacking positive outlets,
lacking um basic resources, health care,
um
resources for food, access to food,
right? So these things are um these
things are where we can really get to
addressing
improvements in our community in terms
of safety, in terms of connection, and
in terms of health. And I think the
community has spoken pretty clearly on
that and how we would like our
investments to be in those places. Um so
I'm here to ask you all to follow
through on that, please. Thank you.
Can you hear me? All right. Hello, city
council. I am Rose. I live in district 2
and I'm a lifelong resident here in Las
Cusus. And yeah, I'm also here to today
to speak about the GRT fund priorities
the committee wanted in fall 2025, which
were like what was mentioned, libraries,
parks, rec centers, and essential public
infrastructure, maintenance, and
amenities.
There has been a shift to what is
prioritized, and these are things that
was not in our demands like police
training facility, which funding for
police wasn't even in the top 10.
The only funding that was on the list
for police was fleet maintenance. The
community has spoken and we want to
invest in things that better the quality
of life for everyone in every stage of
life. And since there has been an
ongoing concern of youth in our
community, investments in spaces like
parks, rec centers, libraries, and skate
parks, which the completion of that is
long overdue.
thinks our youth deserve to have them
grow and develop into well-run adults in
our community. And personally, if I ever
decide to have a kid, I would want them
to live in a city that invests in public
spaces that fosters positive growth.
And lastly, as public officials, it is
your duty to follow through with what
your constituents have agreed upon. And
as your constituents, we will hold
accountability. Investing in our
community spaces over over incarceration
is what will make our city great. Thank
you.
All righty.
Hello, Mayor and uh city council. Uh my
name is Zach Egan and I am in district
2. I'm also here today to speak on the
GRT spending proposal. Uh the city of
Los Cusus voted to increase our own
taxes in order to improve our community
and last year the city council asked for
public input on how to best allocate
that money. The community overwhelmingly
spoke to put that money towards public
works, building public spaces,
improvements to existing public
facilities and youth programming. Last
week, the city stated that they would be
allocating around $4 million of those
funds towards police training center.
This goes against what the public voted
for and on several occasions the public
services mentioned have been affirmed by
Chief Story as means for reducing crime
especially juvenile crime in Los Cusus.
When our citizens and kids have things
to do, it reduces crime. And this is
what the city has voted for. We want
more things to do. We want more third
spaces. I think it is inevitable that
the city will allocate funds for a
police training center. And I recognize
that the need for more police training,
especially in deescalation and
non-violent uh intervention.
I also believe in transparency,
accountability, and democracy. So my ask
is that you use the GRT money for what
the public voted for and find another
way to fund the training center. If you
want to fund a police training facility
and fund it through a tax increase, why
not put it on the ballot and let the
people vote for what they want? Thank
you.
Hello, council. My name is Dave Wilson,
District 2. Um, I'd like to thank you
all for your service, especially Bill,
who's been doing this for a long time.
He's my representative, my council
member. Um, I haven't been up here
uh, in the 50 years I've lived in Los
Cruus very much. Um, mostly on business.
I had a business here, public relations
advertising firm for for a number of
years. City's been our client. State of
New Mexico has been our client.
been involved from Hamus Anthony casino
project
to uh
the monument representing the farm and
ranch community and the monument
process.
And I just want to tell you guys um that
I'm very familiar with these public
hearing meetings
and I've been a part of them. I've
helped organize them from different
sides for Native Americans to to uh
ranchers. Um, and I'm going to tell you,
I'm going to warn you
that
there are highly organized groups that
put together efforts to stack the
influence of these meetings
on the Monument Valley. Lewis
Lucas is involved in that. uh you know
we had a big public meeting. Secretary
of Interior came and secretary uh was to
hear public input at the Ramada capacity
275 thou or 2 275 people and uh Lucas's
group bust in
five buses 50 passenger buses one from
Silver City, two from El Paso and um a
couple from from Albuquerque.
The capacity is 375.
250 people busted. Okay. So, I've run
sustainability meetings for uh the
county and been in charge of the
communications for that stuff and
there's these traveling groups that
come. Nobody shows up to these things.
And because we're ordered to hold the
campaigns during after Fourth of July,
during back to school when people are at
their busiest times, so the general
public doesn't show up. So this these
groups can manipulate and and send their
emails to groups, their highly organized
activists to bias these public events. I
mean, it goes on and I have seen it for
years, guys. So when you hear the
helicopters flying people to El Paso in
our medical system,
but you go over my house every day and
they we used to never hear those
helicopters.
When you when you hear that the public
is outraged and that that that we don't
have enough doctors, it's because
government is failing us. I support
our our police chief story and what he's
trying to do. Your public safety role is
number one, the money needs to go to
public safety.
Okay, sir.
Thank you.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Good afternoon, Dolores Fetto. For the
record, Mr. Mr. Mayor, I owe you an
apology. Last year, March, on March
14th, I sat with you in the back room
here and I told you I would never show
up to another council meeting because
nobody listens and because nothing was
getting done.
And over this past year, I've had many
people approach me and go, "Dolores, why
did you shut up?" Don't let anybody shut
you up. The reason you listen to people
is because you get involved. And I
listen to a lot of people. sitting here
at city council years ago, there weren't
a lot of young people in the in the
chambers. They were working. I don't
know where everybody's working these
days. That's what you should be working
on. Secondly, I'd like to say that there
was never two seats empty at this
council. And when I walked in today,
which is totally spontaneous for me
today, I was not planned on being here.
I am surprised that there are other
businesses more important than the
citizens of Los Cruus that elected them
to be here. In eight years, I missed two
meetings. One for my brother's death and
one for my mother's death, and that was
it. Now, there's things that come up. I
understand that. But I think there's
reason for absentee today to to say, "I
don't want to listen to the public. I'm
going to be five years old. I'm put my
hands over my ears and shake my head. I
don't want to hear you. I don't want to
hear you. I don't want to hear you
because I want to throw a tantrum.
That's what I see at this council right
now over the last year. I see a lot of
disrespect.
I see a lot of people that don't
understand the system. Do I support
Chief Story? Of course I do. I worked
with three different police chiefs and
they were all outstanding. But you know
what's outstanding about Los Cruus's PD
is the other officers that he's leading
down a track to make this better. We
want to talk about parks. What happened
to Apadaka Park? Closed down the pool.
Didn't replace it. We don't have
anything there. What happened to
Branigan Park? Donated by Mr. Branigan.
Not there. It's because the city has
failed in keeping up with what is
happening in Los Cruus. There's no
reason to build brand new everything.
think about what you already have and
take care of it. But it hasn't been
taken care of because there's outside
interests here and it's no longer
nonpartisan.
For those that don't understand what the
public's the city council's role or the
city manager's role is, these few
things. One, you're supposed to provide
the best fire and police safety. So, you
know what? That's going to cost a lot.
Number two, you're supposed to provide
the best utilities, water, gas, sewer,
pickup trash, keep it clean. Number
three, the best roads because that's how
people move. Those are your priorities.
Remember that.
Hello, my name is Megan Olri and I am a
resident of Los Cusus. As a native New
Mexican and former special special
education teacher for Albuquerque public
schools, I experienced firsthand the
struggles New Mexico has faced in
providing quality education, employment,
and safety for its residents.
Approximately 17% of the population
lives in poverty and student proficiency
in reading and math is among the lowest
in the country.
Therefore, utilizing most city funding
to enhance and increase the training and
militarization of the Los Cruus Police
Department not only ignores the
community's priorities and needs, but
essentially provides a small band-aid
solution to a much larger structural
wound.
There is proof that investing in
increased police presence, surveillance,
and incarceration rates at the expense
of community resources has devastating
consequences, including increased
polarization, fear, and scapegoating.
We should instead focus more funding on
assisting community- based resources,
including the LIT team, which stands for
lessen the incidence of grief, harm, and
trauma. LIT is a deescalation team
consisting of firefighter, paramedics,
and social workers who respond to 911
emergency mental health crisis. I urge
you to honor the vision with investing
in community mental health resources,
public libraries, educational programs,
and recreational centers that provide a
stable, lasting foundation so the
community of Los Cusus can truly live
and thrive in peace and safety. Thank
you.
Mayor and uh city council. I'm Ken
Binkley. I'm a business owner here in
the city of Los Cusus. uh wanted to come
and speak today. We uh did help with the
uh 2024 gross receipts tax campaign. One
of the things uh the primary things that
we pushed in that radio script which
many of the people in the county or city
and county heard was that public safety
would be a top uh priority and so that
many thousands of dollars were spent on
that. Uh this was a message that many
people in Los Cruus heard. Uh I know
there were meetings. I'm sure that these
meetings had people attended, but I
promise that the radio spot that went
out to the voters uh was had much higher
numbers than the folks that attended
these meetings.
Additionally, I uh give my support to
Chief Story. As a business owner, I had
been concerned about breakins and other
types of crime uh at our office located
by the uh Kasa Autolex, now formerly the
Borman Autolex. Uh we had good policing
in that area and I feel like that is to
the credit of him and his police force.
I'm not a friend of Chief Story. I have
met him a couple times at uh
presentations, but we don't do things
socially. I if I see him in public, I
say hello, but I'm not influenced by
personal standards here. The last thing
I heard uh from instructor uh Taylor, I
believe he's a professor over at the
university or teaching, is that he was
talking about needs and some of the
basic needs. As we know from some of our
marketing classes that we all took in
college, Maslo's hierarchy of needs,
safety is one of those key components so
that people can enjoy open spaces and
other things like being self-actualized.
So, I hope that the city will continue
to focus on public safety since the
campaign's goals were set forth that
that would be one of the key items.
Thank you.
Vic Vilobos for the record. Uh, mayor,
counselors, chiefs. Um, honestly don't
know where to start. These meetings are
always just so exciting, all the
different ways they go. But I I think we
stick with what we know and that is
public safety. And you know, I think
when we talk about public safety, it is
what your constituents want. You know, I
personally did not have the time to to
make to to go to some of your your your
meetings that you had and stuff, but I
can tell you that people that I know who
voted and when they voted, public safety
was the reason they voted for that that
that money. And I don't think anybody,
not one of us, is asking that you don't
spend money in other places. We need
improvement in other areas. We know that
we need improvement in other areas, but
it has to start with public safety. I
know that there are people in this crowd
that that think we can do without the
police, that we don't need to further
train our police, that we can somehow or
another manage things on our own. Trust
me, you don't want me managing that for
you. That is not the outcome that that
this city probably wants. But I can tell
you that if you just I I listened to
Chief's story this morning when he had
his news conference and I can tell you
that that shooting at Walmart from a
known gang person in Los Cruuses with a
long criminal history, no creative
outlet you give that person would have
made a difference that day on whether he
was shooting police or not. But what did
make a difference was that the police
are trained to handle that situation.
And you think about the fact I actually
have a friend that has has their
daughter living in the neighborhood
there and they were the first call I
made that morning when I knew what was
going on because the police were able to
hold that perimeter. Nothing else had to
happen. Those trained officers and the
training they get it were able to hold
that per that that perimeter and stop
that threat from going out. That only
comes from training and from knowing
what they're doing and how to work
together. And we've got to continue
that. And so I got to tell you, you need
to spend that money for training
facilities, for both the police and the
fire, and and continue your support as I
know you do for Chief Story because it
is truly what's working in this city
right now. We need all the help we can
get. Thank you.
Good afternoon, council. My name is
Connie Chapman and I'm here mostly today
because the police held their press
conference this morning on the shooting
from February 8th that I have been
waiting to hear about. And I am very
disturbed not necessarily about how all
it all came down other than the amount
of force used to pursue a shoplifter. I
don't know all the rules and regulations
around such things. I am just thrilled.
It was a very quiet morning in that
Walmart parking lot as that officer sped
off to pursue a shoplifter. There could
have been a child running out from
between cars, we would have lost that
child.
I think that needs to be reviewed. The
amount of force used to pursue a
shoplifter,
that's an issue. On top of that, all
this talk about the GRT money. I also
watched the work session last week and
was a little bit amazed at the
presentation. It did seem to skew the
results I heard at the October 17th
presentation by your staff.
Just make sure we take the time to
review it all. And I also want to say
that public safety does not equate to
police. That is just the way people
assume it means it. But if I say public
safety, that's not my definition and
it's not always the definition of
anybody else. So, we need to work on
that definition of public safety.
Also, some of that GRT money went to us
old folks, and I'd like to make sure
that those senior centers get the money
they need. Thank you.
before you start the clock. I would like
to respectfully ask for an additional
minute.
Usually, it's it's ahead of time. That's
why I was approached earlier uh before
the meeting, but I'll go ahead and allow
it today.
Thank you, sir. I wanted the additional
minute to start this meeting by thanking
and showing some love because I think
that's meeting
I'm sorry for the record.
Sorry. For the record, this is Derek
Pacheco.
I'd like to start things a little
different and start with some love, but
I'm going to need everyone's undivided
attention.
Thank you, Chief. Thank you,
Chief. Thank you very, very much from
the bottom of my heart. You've always
been very approachable, very respectful,
and a welcome change from Chief
Dominguez. Thank you, Mr. Daniels.
Um, I understand that fires are out of
control in this county. Thank you for
your service and your team. I know it's
a thankless job. Mr. Cidio,
thank you for your continued service.
Miss Delgado, thank you.
Miss McCclure, I didn't realize that you
were such an accomplished author. Um,
thank you for bringing your talents to
this city. Mr. Matise, thank you for
your continued service as a business
leader and a thoughtful, pragmatic
thinker on the bench. Uh, Mr. Harris, I
can't thank you enough for your um
presence on the bench. Your demeanor is
much welcome. um your attention to
detail and the way that you uh
respectfully with all your body pay
attention to constituents is noted.
Thank you, Mr. Munos. Glad to have you.
Thank you for taking diligent notes. I
noticed that. Mr. Enriquez, thank you
for your prior service uh on the fire uh
team here, and I appreciate you as
mayor. Akani,
I can't say your name as well as
everyone else's yet, but I'm working on
it. Um, thank you for sticking around.
Um, coming in from Utah, uh, while
others bounced around, you stuck around.
I appreciate that. Uh, Mr. Douglas, um,
thank you for your work. Mr. Rivera,
thank you, uh, today for giving me extra
attention.
With that being said,
this city and this county is in
shambles, and it is really
heartbreaking.
We have a great divide here from the
county to the city to the constituents.
I feel so blessed to be amongst my peers
that are so very smart and so very
caring. And they show up time and time
again to voice their concerns with their
heart on their chest, knowing very well
that they could be doxed or otherwise um
pointed at when they're at the grocery
store or giggled at by the ladies in the
back row. Um thank you.
In regard to the county being divided in
by the city and vice versa, project
Jupiter comes to mind. Real quick, I
don't think once we've heard any
testimony regarding water restrictions
here in the city. We're not allowed to
water on Mondays. We're only allowed to
water our tomato gardens every other
day. Yet, we bring in major projects
without consulting the other team. We're
all working in silos and vacuums and not
together. And I think if we worked
together and took a more humanistic
approach to things, we would figure this
out in a heartbeat. In an LA minute,
most of our problems locally would be
fixed. It really would. They really
would.
Very disappointing that my counselor
Mccclure told me that she isn't allowed
to bring forth resolutions for um
discussion or for consideration.
That's just untrue.
That was you not wanting to bring forth
a resolution. That was you not wanting
to rock the boat. That was you not
wanting to engage with a constituent
that has a real concern about flock.
Mr. Matise, thank you for your phone
call, but you didn't answer my questions
on email like you said you would. I
appreciate some answers. Thank you.
Hello everybody. My name is Shannon
Murray.
Thank you for letting me speak. So, I
manage a small business in District 4,
which is one of the most poorly run
districts. It's a shame Miss Bencom
isn't here. Um, I do pay my GRT, but I
live in the county, so I do feel like I
have a little bit of taxation without
representation. But, um, I'm just here
to say that I am for a training center
for first responders, police, fire. Um,
nothing makes people better than
training. I tell people that with their
dogs at the dog facility I have. You got
to train those dogs. Got to train the
people. Anyway, I'm all for building
awesome places for people to hang out
and, you know, inspire children and have
um be with your families, but if they're
not safe, nobody's going to go. So,
think about that. But anyway, that's all
I wanted to say. Thanks. Bye-bye.
See you mayor
prom council members
chief story chief Daniels and the
officers back there.
Sir if you could for the record state
your name and then you have to speak
directly into the microphone.
I'm sorry about that. Chris Apadaka.
Uh,
you all have my resume up there. I I was
here a couple weeks ago and everything
on that paper is basically my life. Uh,
40 years of my professional life in
Hollywood.
Um,
there are things that I know
that they don't teach people in college
as far as how the business really works.
relationships,
respect is very important.
What I would like to see happen, you
know, I've been watching um I've been
watching uh film Los Cusus in the city
uh eight years uh living in Hollywood
and then moving back here to be with my
mother um five years ago.
And
the only thing that I really looking at
the 14 years, uh, Ross finally got his
sound stage there at New Mexico State,
which is good. Uh, there's a film office
and a nice website.
Um
uh they offer different services but
there isn't anybody bringing uh uh mayor
you said uh this Los Cruus is ready uh
for business. Uh we are now open for
business I believe is what you said. And
from my experience, I, you know, I I'm
working on some things in Las Vegas now
at uh Summerland Studios and also
working on some projects in Los Angeles.
Um, I'm trying to get connected here
just as it they I don't think they like
Hollywood people. Uh, they like
Hollywood money, but not Hollywood
experience.
uh is kind of how I feel about
everything, which is fine. Um if I'm
such a big shot, why am I here in Los
Cruus? I'm here because of my family. Uh
I came here to be with my mom. She since
passed. I have two older brothers and an
older sister. And most likely I wouldn't
be here if they weren't here. Um I'd
like to uh be able to do something uh
for the film community here. You got to
treat the city like an agent would treat
a client. You need to get out there and
it's about relationships.
Relationships and deal making is what I
uh I'm sitting here looking at the
clock. That's not good. I'm just
rushing. Thank you very much. I'll see
you next time, I guess. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Gilberta.
Um,
for the record, I just want to say this
is my first time attending
uh the U city council meeting and uh as
such is my first time coming up here to
speak. I wasn't planning on speaking um
but I just felt compelled to after
hearing some of the u individuals give
their give their opinion. Uh I was um
not born I was born in El Paso but I
don't claim it. Okay. But I grew up uh
uh here in Cusus from my childhood
elementary to high school went on to NSU
and after I graduated I joined the Air
Force. So, I was away from Los Cusus for
several years, but I have seen it grow
and uh become a a larger city, no doubt,
with all the inherent problems that
cities have. Uh but I I wanted to speak
because I felt compelled that um uh I
agree with the lady, one of the ladies
that spoke earlier that said about you
know uh
pinning down definitions because public
safety does mean different things to
different people and uh someone alluded
to the Maslo hierarchy of needs. You
know, if anybody remembers going, you
know, some of those courses that that uh
um you have to meet the basic needs
first before you're going to be
interested in in uh self-actualization,
you know, which is top level there.
Whatever that really means means
different things to different people.
But for me, public safety
is about security. is about having a
safe place to live and work and play.
Okay. Um
having parks. I'm all for parks and uh
recreation centers and uh all that. I I
I'm I'm totally for that. But to me,
unless you have a safe environment,
and I'm sorry to to to say this uh uh
that I I don't agree that, you know, you
just throw enough money at at some
institutions and you'll turn uh
criminals and bad people into good
people. Uh uh police are required and
their training is critical. Um, I was a
security police in the first part of my
uh tenure and and serving in the Air
Force. And I'll tell you this that it
was the training that we received in
knowing how to respond
to incidences that was able to either
mitigate or and or and solve those from
becoming escalated. So, I'm all for the
uh the U police training facility.
Totally support it. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Jeff Jorgensson and
I'm District 6. John, congratulations.
And your new position, mayor, council
members, police chief, fire chief. I was
public safety when there wasn't public
safety. I was a public safety officer in
the state of Illinois.
And back then it was unheard of. Police
and fire. The amount of training that
firefighter goes through and a police
officer goes through
is just uncomprehensible.
Um, this city, I'm all for it and so are
my neighbors. I represent about half a
dozen neighbors
on my block in district six.
and they're in full agreement.
We have to have a public safety center
to maintain
the professionalism
that we expect the city of Los Cusus.
I go around, I look at the low-income
housing being built,
the amount of apartments alone,
god forbid if any of those ever caught
on fire. I look at what's going on in
our city with the homeless,
the drug addiction problem,
what happened the other day, the
shooting at Walmart,
and excuse me, it wasn't just a
shoplifter.
It was a shoplifter with a gun.
You fire at the police,
expect to get fired back upon. It was
handled professionally
and I cannot tell you how much respect I
have for both our police and our fire
chief. I served all my life in public
safety.
When the fire department has to go to
the park and retrieve
a young infant
out of a latrine
firefighter takes that lifeless body out
of the blue fluid
that scars a man for internal. I seen
things with my eyes
that no one should have seen. And these
gentlemen have to respect them. They
need a new public safety facility that's
been talked about since 2016.
Let's do it, folks.
Let's do it.
And I love each and every one of you.
And I can't say enough about my city of
Los Cruus. I moved here in July of 2022
and I love this city
and you folks do an outstanding job.
Thank you. And thanks to our police and
chief fire chiefs and everyone on the
police department, fire department.
Good afternoon. My name is Jim Hurst.
What part of inalienable rights, certain
inalienable rights, do you not
understand?
you know, certain inaliable rights, as
in we hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created
equal and endowed by their creator with
certain inalienable rights. Among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. What does the pursuit of
happiness mean if it does not mean the
right to migrate?
the right to flee persecution and
oppression and poverty and settle in a
country where you can hope to breathe
free and prosper.
The Trump administration does not
recognize this right. They don't
recognize that humans have rights by
virtue of being born into the human
race.
Jefferson called them certain
inalienable rights. He declared that we
are we created our government to protect
those certain inalienable rights, not to
take them away.
The founding of our nation depended on a
compromise.
The northern states would allow slavery
and the slave owners would agree to a
national creed that declares all men are
created equal, thus making slavery and
tyrannical governments forever
illegitimate.
It took a bloody civil war and centuries
of racial prejudice before the
compromise paid off. But that compromise
has paid off. Our society rejects
tyranny and tyrants. We consider them
illegitimate.
It was reported in the New York Times
that the Department of Justice is
tracking those who make negative
comments about ICE. We'll track this,
Mr. President.
ICE is illegitimate because it has
become an instrument of tyranny. ICE has
no respect for due process of law and
our certain inalienable rights.
The best way to fix ICE is to eliminate
it.
Americans want a president and a
government
that will champion our certain
inalienable rights. We reject any agency
of government that does not. Los Cusus
is right to oppose ICE by what whatever
authority you have. Thank you for doing
so and please don't stop.
Thank you.
Mayor, city council. I'm Jennifer Cry.
Recognize the t-shirt.
Uh I think the budgeting process is
incredibly difficult. I'm so glad I'm
not in your shoes, but I'm going to give
you some input.
So you have a certain amount of money
and you have a lot of demands.
So you're going to support the police,
of course. Who wouldn't? They're
important.
Parks and recreation. I think tennis
courts come in here. Very important.
You got roads
or transportation. Broaden it a little
bit.
Oh, and then you have more police.
Okay. Then you have fire department.
Very important. I agree. We all need to
have these services.
And then you have general maintenance.
Also important. Not terribly exciting,
but it's important.
Oh, and then you have more police.
And then you have I guess I just called
it other
but
there's no library support.
And I'm not just talking about the GRT.
That just happened to be I guess the
topic last week. Bangan Library provides
a tremendously valuable service to the
community and it reaches a range in age
and socioeconomic
status uh that nothing else does. So
I just wanted to say
as a tennis player
the library is more important than the
tennis courts. But that's just between
you and me. If you repeat that to
anybody, I will deny it. Okay? But
please,
please
support the library. Thank you.
He turned off my time.
Hello, mayor and city council and
community of Los Cusus. My name is Liz
Bennett. I'm a public health social
worker and I want to start by thanking
the staff and council and community for
all of your effort in moving GRT funded
projects forward. I know it is not a
simple or easy task. I also want to
thank councelor Kuran and Ben Ko for
their e effort to elevate community
voices during the GRT work session.
And as a community member, I wanted to
share my disappointment that there was
not more genuine consideration of
investing in recreation centers as it
was an overwhelmingly supported project
and it is an intervention that responds
to the immediate needs expressed by the
young people in our community. To me,
public safety means affordable housing,
youth- centered spaces, economic
opportunities that allow families to
feed their children, and community-based
therapeutic services that support
people's recovery from generational
trauma, violence, and poverty.
From the work session, I understand that
road construction is considered a
gesture towards the intention to perhaps
build a recreational center in that area
at a later date. So, I have a few
follow-up questions from that work
session. One, how long would road
construction take? Is there a plan to
invest in uh developing a plan for that
recreation center? Does a plan already
exist? And also, is the unfinished skate
park one of the unfinished projects
mentioned in the GRT plan? I'm concerned
about the lack of real investment
required to meet the present- moment
needs of young people and their
families. The kinds of investments that
research demonstrates make a difference
in young people's lives compared to the
systems of incarceration that research
demonstrates contributes to increased
risk of future recidivism.
In addition to recreational
infrastructure, I recommend that the
city invests in expanding the youth
development and diversion program,
increasing the rate of pay for their
staff, and creating opportunities for
young people who have graduated from
that program to return as paid mentors,
as credible messengers to share their
experiences of recovery.
We're going to continue to see the same
challenges in future generations unless
we address root causes of these issues.
So, I look forward to hearing more about
how this council plans to make serious
investments in positive youth
development. Thank you.
My name is Fred Huff. At the last two
city council meetings uh that I spoke
at, I talked with gratitude about the
new park rangers trying to make our park
safer for regular citizens to use. When
I first spotted the cadet rangers
working with their LCPD mentors on
January 12th,
there was 11 illegal encampments in the
Burn Lake area.
One of those illegal encampments had
been there for over a year and nothing
had been done about it.
When I talked to the officers that day,
I asked them why so many illegal
encampments had popped up recently.
They told me that the people in the
illegal encampments had told them that
the community of hope had told them to
come to this location.
Who gave the community of hope the
authority to tell people to trespass
wherever they want on city property?
During the next few weeks while the park
ranger cadets finished their training,
nine of those illegal encampments were
removed and cleaned up with the help of
Mono.
When the park rangers were officially on
their own as of February 1st, there were
still three illegal encampments in the
lake bed that refused to vacate.
With the daily visits from the park
rangers and the placing of their orange
no trespassing tags at the illegal
encampment sites, they were finally
vacated on February 6th. So today is the
11th day without any illegal encampments
in the Burn Lake City Park area. Thank
you park rangers for stepping up to make
our community better.
Today the progress New Mexico act
activists spoke in favor of spending the
taxpayer money raised with the recent
GRT increase on more recreation centers
and safe spaces. I assume that's parks.
I'm going to interpret that as parks.
Um, when the GRT tax was being promoted,
it was public safety, public safety,
public safety.
Now, these people are wanting our GRT
tax dollars to be spent on recreation
and pleasure. That is not what the
citizens of Los Cusus voted for. The
city already has 90 parks or public
safety areas. Now, while all of these
parks are not the same, some are small
and others are large, there are still 90
parks within the city of Los Cusus,
the city police department is comprised
of 200 commissioned officers.
So, we have almost half the number of
parks as the number of police officers.
Recently, our safe spaces have been the
location of a mass shooting. We saw how
well that worked out in a safe space and
also the loss the murder of a baby in
Burn Lake.
Please support public safety. Thank you.
Tim Jenkins here. I can guarantee you
with 100% certainty that I have never in
the history of my life had to call LCPD
26 times in seven days until this last
week. This tells me we have a major
problem here in Cruises and should
seriously consider supporting public
safety over parks and recreation. I had
to call LCPD 26 times this last week.
All concerning issues with the unhoused
community, setting fires, vandalizing
property, blocking fire hydrants, etc.
Not sure what has changed this last
month, but this issue seems to have
absolutely exploded here recently. I
would like to make not only city
council, but also the public aware of an
issue. The mayor of Rio Rancho was
visiting Portland, Oregon a few months
back, and across the street from his
hotel was a Starbucks. He went to grab a
quick coffee when at the entrance door,
he noticed an unhoused individual
wrapped in a blanket shivering. He asked
her, "If I buy you a coffee and a
Danish, would you be willing to have a
conversation?" Her reply was yes. He
asked her point blank, "what is it that
you were doing here in this freezing
cold, dark, wet, snowy place?" Her reply
was that her family fell on hard times
and she lost everything. He asked her,
"What are your long-term goals?" She
said, "I am trying to gather enough
money to get out of here." He said,
"Where are you trying to get to?" Her
reply was, "I am trying to get to
Albuquerque." Not knowing that
Albuquerque is basically his backyard.
He said, "Why Albuquerque?" And her
answer should shock every last one of
you. She said, "It is known nationwide
through the entire unhoused community
that New Mexico is the place to go." And
he said, "Why New Mexico?" She said,
"Number one, it is warmer down there,
and number two, we are basically handed
everything for free. He was absolutely
shell shocked and said to himself, "You
have got to be kidding me. New Mexico is
not only inviting the entire nation
here, but also breeding and mutating
this culture here in New Mexico. And I
know, Mr. Mayor, when you were first
elected, this was a major concern and
question to you. My question is, what
are we doing today to support public
safety and to give our officers the
tools they need to combat this monster
that has been created by our own
legislators and policies in place?
Compassion does not mean lawlessness.
Grace does not cancel justice. Mercy
does not require abandoning borders. New
Mexico deserves leadership that supports
faith, order, public safety, and the
rule of law, not policies that enable
chaos while claiming compassion. Thank
you.
Okay. Next is the acceptance of agenda.
Harris 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 Ben Como and Councelor
Craranner absent. Councelor Munoz.
Yes.
And Mayor.
Yes.
Next, we'll go to item 7.1, resolution
number 26-0,
I'm sorry, -102,
a resolution authorizing the city of Los
Cusus to accept grant awards.
So moved.
Second.
Good afternoon, mayor, counselors, city
management,
and the community. My name is Gabriela
Prattz. I'm the city's grant manager and
I have before you a resolution to accept
a variety of grants for a few of our
operating departments. I apologize about
my voice.
The first grant is made to the police
department from the New Mexico
Department of Public Safety in the
amount of uh $124,571.
This is the law enforcement retainment
fund and it is exactly for that to
provide law enforcement retential
differential dispersements including
FICA and Medicare payments for uh
qualified Los Cruus police officers.
This is the fourth year of this is year
four of four years of grants
under this award.
The second is a uh grant
slashloan made to the utilities uh
department from the water trust board
through the New Mexico Finance
Authority. The amount of the grant is
$2.7 million and it required an
additional match of $450,000.
And this is to design and rehabilitate
the Chillshore tank and related
improvements to this 2 million uh gallon
water tank.
The water trust board also awarded to
the utilities department through the New
Mexico Finance Authority a um a grant in
the amount of $15 million and this one
requires no match uh to fund lead
service line replacement project and
associated activities including lead
detection replacement and design. Please
note that this particular part of the
project is actually for construction.
or rather blind replacement.
Um the next is a grant made to the fire
department through the New Mexico
Department of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management in the amount of
$400,000.
This is to re uh to remodel fire station
number four, which is in need of um
updates to its two restrooms uh to meet
code and ADA standards.
The next is a federal award from the
Federal Emergency Management
Administration or FEMA to the fire
department. It is in the amount of
$456,182
with a 10% match which is $45,600
odd dollars. These funds will support
training fees and materials for 15 EMTs
to complete paramedic training and
certification.
And that's it for today. Here are your
council options. I stand for questions.
Department uh directors and project
managers are also in the audience to
answer any specific questions you may
have.
Thank you. Any questions? Uh councelor
Harris.
Um thanks. On slide four,
um do you have So you mentioned that
this is specifically for construction.
Do you have more info on the specific
projects that are planned for this? Oh,
it's this one specifically for the lead
service line replacement project that
the water utilities undertaken.
So once they've completed the survey and
the identification of lines that are led
then these funds will come in to finish
up the work to do the actual
construction or rather replacement of
the lines.
Got it. Thanks,
Council Matise.
Yeah, I I just had a question. I think
it's page three.
Yes, sir.
That's a lot of rehabilitation.
And u is that tank very old? Is that
what uh what most of the work is being
done?
I'm not sure as to what how old that
tank is. That would definitely be a
question for water. And here comes Carl.
Carl, that that tank looks real good on
the outside. It's the inside.
Thank you, mayor, counselors. Uh Carl
Clark, assistant utilities director.
Yes, that it does look good on the
outside. It's always on the inside that
is troublesome when you take a look at
them. Um yeah, we've seen a huge
increase in cost for rehabs of tanks. Uh
our last tank, the Missouri tank, was
2.1 million. So, yeah, that dollar
amount's pretty close. We'll end up
replacing the fencing cuz it's in very
bad condition and doing some grading
work on site and then we'll get inside
the tank and it'll be interior and
exterior work that we'll be doing.
Uh just a question that will that tank
have to be emptied to do the work
inside?
Uh uh mayor. Yes. Uh
and then will I I live in that area.
Will I still get pressure for flushing
or
Yes, you you'll still get pressure uh or
water pressure in that area. That tank
has been rehabbed uh once before and so
from what I recall it was pretty hot at
that time. So I don't think uh we had
any issues at that time. But we have
boosters that are going to pressurize
the area and you should be fine.
Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
See no other. Thank you. Uh Chrissy,
this is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-102.
Councelor Mccclure,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Ben Ko and Karan are absent.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
And mayor,
yes.
Next is item 7.2, 2 resolution number
26-103
a resolution authorizing the city of Los
Cruz to accept second quarter budget
adjustments.
Move to approve resolution.
Second.
Good afternoon, mayor, city council,
staff, and public. My name is Vanessa
Perez, and I'm one of your budget
analysts. Before you today is a
resolution to accept second quarter
budget adjustments for fiscal year 2026.
Before we dive into the overview of
these adjustments, I would like to share
a share a few key reminders. Um, the
adjustments presented here today will
mainly focus on updating available
balances within our budget and the data
in this presentation is only a summary
of the adjustments. If you would like
full detail, please refer to your
packets.
Starting off with general fund
adjustments, parks and wreck is
requesting about $20,000 for the
investigation of the construction of the
skate park.
They are also requesting about $42,000
for the final invoice of the High Noon
soccer concession stand remodel. We are
reducing the budget tied to Lita 828
productions. This is due to the
termination of this agreement. Quality
of life is requesting $82,500
to increase funding for the senior meals
program and the fire department is
increasing to request their expenditures
by about a million dollars. This is to
cover public consulting group payments
and New Mexico healthcare authority
payments.
The fire department is also requesting
to increase the revenues by about 2.2
million total. 273,000 is expected from
ambulance services. About 1.8 million is
expected from a supplemental payment
program for ambulance services. and they
are also requesting $125,600
for some services that the fire chief
has provided for the county. Last on
your screen, we are requesting to budget
$2.2 million in environmental gross
receipts tax in the general fund.
On screen, we have a list of various
transfers going in or out of the general
fund. The overall impact of all general
fund adjustments requested today is an
increase in revenues of $4.4 million, a
decrease in expenditures of about
$686,000,
and an increase in transfer outs of
about $1.6 million.
Public works, police, and housing are
adjusting some of their grants to
reflect accurate available balances.
Parks and Wreck, Utilities, and Quality
of Life are adjusting three separate
grants, and this is again to reflect
accurate available balances.
Quality of life is reducing the revenues
by a little over $5,000. This is for a
donation that will not be received in
fiscal year 2026 as it was already
received and recorded in fiscal year
2025.
Last on your screen, um $2.3 million in
revenues are being removed from the
wastewater fund. This is the revenue
that we just saw on slide three. It will
now be recorded under the general fund
instead of the wastewater um fund.
Public works is carrying over funds for
the Brangan Cultural Center project.
Parks and Wreck is adjusting their
expenditure budget within the Telshore
fund and this is for the legacy parks
and playground renovation initiatives.
Parks is also requesting to record
revenues in the park infrastructure
impact fund and they are also requesting
to increase expenditures by about
$60,000 to complete the first phase of
the Tortugas and Dona Ana move trail.
The prisoner care fund is receiving a
transfer from the general fund and they
are also requesting to increase their
budget by that same amount which is
$600,000.
The economic development fund is
receiving about $1.8 million from the
general fund and requesting to increase
their expenditures by the same amount
for some cinematic infrastructure um
improvements.
On screen you'll see a list of various
transfers between various funds.
And this is the last set of transfers
for today's session.
Before you are your standard council
options and I stand for questions.
Thank you um councelor Harris.
Thanks. Um on slide nine,
um I guess can you go into a little more
detail on the prisoner care? Are we Yes.
arresting a lot more people?
Uh Mayor Councelor Harris, it's my
understanding that we hold more
prisoners and the cost of it has become
more expensive. But I will defer any
related questions to um director Leslie
Doyle,
to comproller Jose.
Good afternoon, Jose Controller. Uh a
few years ago, I want to say about two
or three years ago, the county had
overbuild us on some prisoner care. Uh
we then were applying those overp
payments to credits. Those credits are
now fully paid. So this is just to get
back on track to start paying prisoner
care um invoices.
Okay. So the overall like this year
we're not incarcerating $600,000 more
dollars worth of people. It's just we
had a bunch of credit and haven't been
paying that yet.
And Mayor Councelor Harris, that is
correct. We have not done a transfer
this year. So, this is just the first
one.
We're not short on funds. It's just to
um pay for the for the fees, but this is
the first time this year.
And um I guess just for public's
benefit, how much about does it cost per
day to house somebody? Mayor Councelor
Harris, I'm going to see if anybody
knows that because I didn't look up
numbers.
This is not my good.
Good afternoon, Mayor Councelor Harris.
It's about $120 a day.
Okay. Thanks,
Councilman Chase. uh the page uh slide
eight I believe. Um and then the
nomenclature Telshore facility. What
does that represent? That is that the
Telshore fund,
Mayor Councelor Matis? Yes, that is
correct. That is the Telshore fund. Um
both of these initiatives were approved
I believe one or two budget cycles ago
and it was intended to improve all of
our parks. We just haven't fully
expended all that money. It's been
rolling over. So the
yeah I always used to see that as
Telshore fund but now it's called
Telshore facility.
Uh mayor councelor Matis the full name
is Telshore facility fund. Um I don't
put the word fund in there just because
the fund name is already at the top.
Thanks
prompor
council Vanessa page three. First uh
thank you and the team for putting this
together. appreciate the work into it on
um
quality of of life, the increase to
senior meals program. Totally agree that
that's important and we've got to take
care of our seniors as they took care of
us when when we were younger. Um that's
that's an adjustment. Is that because of
some of cuts somewhere federal state
funding or or was that a um change to a
forecast? Mayor, Mayor Prom, I will
defer that question to quality of life
director Carol Bray.
Good afternoon, uh, Mayor, Mayor Prom.
Yes, essentially that is one of the
reasons why we are asking for this
increase. Uh, we did see a decrease to
what's called the, um, NSIP, nutrition
services incentive program, uh, this
year. I believe it was about $123,465
decrease in that. And so that is part of
this uh it's a it's going to be a total
of um 165,000 that we will need over two
quarters. We're asking for 82,500 this
quarter and we will ask for the
remainder next quarter most likely. Um
and then also of course increases in
attendance of meals as well as increase
in food costs which I think we're all
experiencing. So, uh, if you have
further questions, uh, Roger Bishop is
here, our nutrition manager as well
somewhere. There he is. So, but thank
you.
Thank you for catching that and thank
you for taking care of our seniors.
Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
All right. See no other Christine
Terry.
This is on a motion to approve
resolution 26-103.
Councelor McClure.
Yes. Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno and Councelor Kuran are
absent. Councelor Munoz,
yes.
And Mayor,
yes.
Thank you. Motion passed.
You
snuck up on me, Terry.
Just like Mr. Douglas did.
Next is item 7.3.
7.3 Council Bill Number 26-016
Ordinance number 3108 an ordinance
amending chapter 2 article 4 Division 3
subdivision veterans advisory board
move to approve
second
mayor city council Christina Rivera I'm
your city clerk so the ordinance before
you is to change the membership to the
veterans advisory board
so currently the membership membership
is specific to several veterans
associations. So we have like the VFW um
Purple Heart Women's Association. And so
what we're looking to propose is to make
all those seats at large instead of
organization specific. The reason why
we're looking at that is because there
are times where it's difficult. It takes
us a little while to fill the vacancies
when they're organization specific. And
also we want to give the opportunity to
veterans who don't serve in specific
organizations um the ability to come and
apply for this board. And so we're
changing it to at large with no more
than one member po per organization. So
how will we keep track of that? Well,
that's when the board liaison comes in
hand. We'll get the applications. will
review them, make sure that um we have
the specific organizations listed out
and then we he will review them and take
them to the board for recommendation.
And so that will be an internal process
that will keep track of all the
organizations that are serving on the
board. And so that is the change and
these are your standard council options.
Thank you Christine. Any questions then?
Okay, Terry.
This is on a motion to approve ordinance
08.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise, absent. Councelor
Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno and Councelor Kron are
absent. Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Motion carries.
That was it.
Next is board appointments. So, this one
will require a motion and a second. Uh,
Jacob Kidd, new appointment to the CIA.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on a motion to appoint Jacob
Kidd to the CIAC board.
Councelor Mccclure,
yes.
Councelor Matise, absent.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Ben and Council Karan are both
absent. Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Motion carries.
Next is notice of proposed ordinances.
We have none. We'll go to city council
member board reports and comments. Uh,
Council Mccclure.
Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I had a couple
things on my list. Let's see how fast I
can get through them because I don't
want to yap on forever. Um, I'm
wondering coming out of the
conversations today if we should talk a
little bit more. This is more toward
city manager about strategy. And I don't
think the public does have an awareness
of how we strategize to try to get the
most bang for our buck in terms of
leverage. Um, as I understand it, we're
not going to finalize this uh GRT until
April. So, a lot of this back and forth
might still happen based on what we're
getting from the state to a large
degree. Um, and I think I'm not going to
spoil anybody's news, but I think we did
okay this year. But if we didn't do okay
in some of the things that we still
value that we go back and think about
how we can kind of pepper that into our
ask. And that's something that's hard to
explain to people just in general. Um I
am also one to be like, let's do the
thing. Let's take $500,000. Y'all have
it in accounts. We can just throw it at
the thing. And it's like slow your roll.
We got all these processes. And let me
give you an example because um I want to
give a shout out to youth development
and diversion. they are going to be
doing um some of their life skills work
at the uh county detention for some of
the kiddos and they're really excited
about that. We toured that facility in
August of last year. It took a long time
to get all the emails back and forth to
make sure everybody had their contracts
together that they could go do this. So,
it was one of those things that took a
really long time. But talking about what
that strategy looked like is sometimes
people just don't understand, right? And
I guess I'll harp again on my my
drainage ponds in terms of yeah, you
know, I would love to get you lights in
a street, but we got to do the drainage
ponds first and those are not as cool.
I'm sorry. Which I did actually reach
out to the gentleman. He's like, what
about the lights?
That'll be next year. We'll try. Yeah,
but it is really dependent on how we
have to process some of the things. So,
putting things together. I really do
appreciate speaking to people and
getting more information. and everybody
on staff. Chief Story has been really
helpful talking about flock, hoping to
talk about that again. But walking
through the process, what does that
actually look like? Sometimes it's not
automatic. It's not overnight. I
sometimes wish it were too, but it's
not. Um that said, maybe we can be more
explicit with it. I don't know how what
that looks like, especially for the
library folks of which I include myself.
Right. Um, the other shout out I want to
give to community schools, I went to the
first meeting, they're like, "You're
chair." And I'm like, "No, what?" And
they're like, "How about vice chair?"
And I'm like, "Slightly better." Um,
it'll be interesting. I guess they're
coming at the end of February to kind of
give us an idea of key practices that
are happening at community schools.
Thank you, Councelor Harris, for also
responding to the call. Um, and it'll be
interesting to see what kind of
opportunities we can leverage from the
city also to the school system, right?
So, we're we're different entities, but
we have common goals. How can we figure
that out? I know Carol is shaking her
head. Yes, she's also come to those
meetings as well. So, I'm looking
forward to that. Looking forward to
being more involved. Mayor had asked,
you know, please adopt a school. Booker
T is now my school, too. So, what does
that look like in terms of how we can
help those processes happen faster? And
lastly, I was also really worried about
the Renfair with the closure of the arts
council. And I know we I asked Visit Las
Cruises specifically to do do a lot
community development maybe also a lot.
Um, can can we consider
helping that along a little bit? I would
be interested in seeing and you know
same as the mayor does a pitch for the
whole enchilada the Renfair meant a lot
to sort of the nerdier kids you know so
I would appreciate that and uh thank you
for your time.
Thank you councelor Matise.
Thank you mayor and and council. I just
want to uh accent something that's been
happening over the last couple of
months. I want to thank the mayor for
prioritizing after school programming.
We we have quite a movement coming. We
have I think a a very big meeting coming
on March 11th. I want to thank Carol
Bray and the parks Stephen. We had quite
a turnout that attended that first
initial meeting to expand and improve
our afterchool programs and our youth
programs and to include career training.
So I think um when when we look at how
we spend the money uh from the GRT andor
the general fund and other revenues, we
we do spread it to all good programs,
not just priorities and certain
programs. We're trying to we're trying
to reach many of the youth in Los Cruus
through the schools. And I I want to
thank Steve and Carol Bray and and
others. Cassie, I think, attended that
second meeting and uh invited Michael,
Mr. Harris, councelor Harris to attend.
I know John Munoz is interested in
developing the afterchool program. So I
think we have a good consensus to move
forward and and make those programs
better and and actually uh attract youth
into viable good programs. And thank
you,
Councelor Harris.
Thank you, Mayor. Um I have a couple
things as well. Um, I guess the the main
thing I wanted to highlight is last
week, um, Councelor McLaren and I and
Chief Story had and Brad and, um, Deputy
Chief Daniels had a a good meeting with
Flock and to answer some of our own
questions and some of the questions that
we've been posed by members of the
public. Um, so I just wanted to to give
kind of a briefing on on what we heard
there. Um, in no particular order, you
know, the the main thing that we've
deployed uh from Flock in this town are
license plate reader cameras, ALPRS,
automated license plate readers. Um,
their primary job is to just look at
license plates and detect the license
plate of the car and put it in a
database that can be searched. Um, they
also have the capability to do vehicle
fingerprinting. So, if somebody is
witnessing a crime and they say it was a
white truck with a
rack on the back and a you know, I don't
know, a green mark, you know, green door
or something, they can you can put that
in and it will try and find vehicle
characteristics as well absent just a
license plate number. Um, we were told
in no uncertain terms and I just bring
this statement as I was told that Flock
has never and will never integrate
facial recognition into its product. I
make no judgment on that statement. Just
throwing it out that that's what they
said. Um, a couple things that the city
can do um to address some of our
concerns. we can opt out of provisions
in the contract that allow our data to
be sent up for training of their machine
learning models. Um, so we can we can
opt out of that. We can also opt out of
certain sharing procedures. There is an
overriding
provision that they have in a lot of
contracts that allows them to share data
um in emergency situations. And what
defines that and who defines that is
kind of unclear, but that is a provision
that other cities have opted out of and
uh we might I think Brad's looking into
that as well. Um
we also they they will not of course let
us audit their source code. I think I
knew the answer to that going in into
the meeting, but I did ask. Um, so they
they do have an external security audit
and they've offered to uh let us see the
results of that, but we're not we
wouldn't be allowed to do our own cuz
they're not actually things that we own.
Um,
there they have no plans to integrate an
on- premises storage option. So if we
continue to use system from that
specific company, we use it on their
terms and um we're we're just leasing it
from them. we have as much control as
they claim that we do in their contract.
Um, and to that end, I did ask about a a
recent I guess the incident was not too
recent, but the reporting on it is
recent. Um, in Mountain View,
California, people might have heard that
um, despite the city's wishes, Flock
shared their data with other people in
the nationwide,
not a surveillance network uh, was
another thing that they said. Um, but
their response to that was that well the
city wasn't actually a client at the
time. This was a demo system. They
didn't have a contract. We can do
whatever we want. So
that plus some of the other vibes of the
meeting left me feeling uncomfortable.
Um, I am I'm a technology person. I'm
very pro, you know, applying technology
to community safety um, and doing so
responsibly. But um I will say that that
I did come out of this meeting maybe not
not entirely comforted. Um I do
appreciate everyone's time who put it
together and and for the representatives
from Flock from for coming out didn't
come out but you know over the over the
Zoom meeting to um to help us answer
these questions. Um, and
so, you know, all that said, I think
another thing that came up a lot today,
um, that I just wanted to reiterate is
that I also see community safety in this
kind of more holistic sense. And I want
to make sure that as we're doing
projects, we are doing things to lift up
the community, fix as much as we can um
sources and problems associated with
poverty, addressing root sources of
crime to that end. Um and part of that
is also, you know, police and and
enforcement. That's that is definitely
not the beall end all. Um but it is
something that I I do take very
seriously is the the holistic nature of
that. Um finally completely different
and much more positive. Um from the art
board meeting last week uh the I think I
mentioned the call for artists before
but the the chalk walk is happening on
March 14th at 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. uh
between the Brandan Center and the uh
museum in that little courtyard area.
So, if you've got time, um, come out and
see what what our local artists are up
to that day and, uh, support them and
and see the cool stuff that they're up
to. Thanks, Mayor.
Thank you, Mayor Prom.
Thank you, Mayor. I want to take the
this time to thank everyone who came out
um and provided feedback. Uh, I think
that's that's important. And um
when we talk about things going into
discussions with an open mind and a mind
of of uh curiosity, I think we learn
from those those conversations. Uh I you
know I had thousands of employees before
and uh I got feedback almost every 30
minutes and and and that's important
that it is important. Um sometimes
change our mind sometimes invalidates um
what we've decided. When I look at at
the GRT discussion, I look at how do we
um provide value. You know, the mayor
often talks about value from a
constituent perspective. And so I'm
looking at how do we provide the best
value um to our constituents. And um so
I'm looking forward to additional
discussions. I appreciate again the uh
the staff who's still here and hanging
with us. um and those citizens that came
out and and provided um various feedback
on various topics that you brave the the
wind out there. As you guys know, we
have five seasons in New Mexico, summer,
fall, spring, winter, and wind. So, um
it messed up my hair as I walked in. I
know I noticed um assistant city manager
Cidio's hair is also messed up. So, um,
thanks for everyone coming out and
helping us out. The other piece I want
to do is is thank, uh, Christine and the
staff, everyone who contributed to the,
um, visit to the legislature as it wraps
up. It seems like we're getting some
really good traction. Uh, the
preparation, the contributions that you
made, the organization, u, the timing of
it was was very positive. There are
about 106 municipalities, 33 different
counties, uh, and other groups. We're
all competing for funding, much neededed
funding for our city for, um, Los Cusus.
And I think, uh, you all that that that
prepared and provided information for
those of us that that attended was very
well appreciated and very well received.
So, so, thank you to uh, Christine,
everyone who organized that, and and the
staff. Thank you. Uh I also wanted to um
express my you know gratitude and
appreciation uh as the the event at at
the Walmart happened. Uh I was
definitely um feel for the family of of
the
um person who
um was terminated. Um, at the same time,
I also uh am grateful that the police
officer um who was shot at um came out
um of that situation safely as well and
as well that no other uh innocent
citizens or bystanders were were
injured. Uh I also wanted to thank and
please um share this Chief Daniels with
your firefighters. two firefighters who
were injured as we've had a rash of
fires recently and uh hope for their
speedy recovery and thank them for their
service. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Mayor Prod.
Yeah, I I want to say thank you to
everybody that came out today and spoke
on behalf of the GRT. I I said from the
get-go it was going to be challenging
and but it's a good thing. And again,
thank you to the voters who said yes. Uh
that was first and foremost. Well, I
should say that was second. The first
thing we did was we sent out a survey
uh to to see if that would be something
that we would move forward with. And a
lot of that survey came back with what
everybody's talking about. It was about
public safety. It was about parks,
infrastructure, our roads, um quality of
life. and that's why we proceeded with
putting that uh question on the ballot
for an increase in the GRT. So, we had a
survey, we had the ballot, uh we had
some public meetings, and I want to say
we also have calls, the police calls
that they respond to, the fire calls
that they respond to. So, we've got over
200,000 calls. That's a voice in itself
of what's needed in this community. So,
we're looking for safety. We're looking
for the infrastructure and we're looking
for a quality of place. So trying to
balance that out with state funding,
with federal funding, and with now the
increase in the GRT and our general
obligation bonds, it is a challenge.
We're not going to make everybody happy,
but we are listening. We are taking care
of the things that have been neglected,
and we're looking forward to have a
better quality of life. And that that's
that's where we're headed. And I I say
this is we we all agreed on one thing.
Uh and we hear it from our constituents
all the time is what are we doing for
our youth in our community. They are our
future and we are working towards that
and I think uh myself and all of council
agreed that we need to put more efforts,
more energy and even more money into
things for our youth and our community.
So we'll keep working at that and we'll
keep listening. And with that, I'll turn
it over to our city manager.
Thank you, Mayor Enriquez, Mayor BM
Munoz, and city councilors, Econopia,
city manager. Thank you for your time.
Uh, I just have a few announcements and
um and we'll have you on your way.
First, audit. Want to thank uh audit for
managing our contract with OIR. uh they
just wanted to make an announcement that
OIR group will be here on Monday,
February 23rd to present their 9inth
semianual police audit report to
council. So just FYI, parks and recrecks
update. Uh the department will be
offering a oneweek spring break camp
during upcoming
LCPS
inter session running from Monday, March
16th through Friday, March 20th. To
accommodate as many families as
possible, we will operate at two
locations, Hornata Elementary and Frank
O'Brien Pen Community Center. The camp
is open to children in kindergarten
through fifth grade and offers a full
day of engagement from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. We thank staff for managing that
and at affordable prices, $20 per child.
Participants will enjoy indoor and
outdoor play, arts and crafts, games,
and daily breakfast and lunch. Uh
registration officially opens at 8 a.m.
uh February 17th and we'll conclude at
5:00 pm Friday, March 6. So just want to
say kudos to our parks and rec staff
making that happen. Uh we've had the
opportunity to visit uh with them just a
bit and it's just magic uh what they do.
So thank you staff, parks and w keep up
the great work. I would like to
highlight the ongoing efforts of our
community forestry and parks staff who
are hard at work on several tree
planting initiatives aimed at increasing
shade and beautifification throughout
our city. Within the last three weeks,
staff have successfully planted a 100
trees. Great job to you staff. Building
on that momentum, staff is currently in
the process of planting an additional 40
trees along Northrise. Woo! Woo! Keep it
up. These efforts remain a vital part of
our commitment to enhancing the city's
canopy and improving the quality of life
for our residents in these hightraic
corridors. Great job, staff. Keep it up.
Um, economic development. Yesterday,
Enemy DD, the New Mexico Economic
Development Department, announced the
Las Cusus Innovation and Industrial Park
as one of its first five strategic
development sites to be designated
throughout the state's site readiness
program, marking a milestone in
statewide efforts to prepare competitive
investments ready locations for economic
growth. Each site was assessed for
infrastructure, utility access,
workforce considerations, development
capacity, and alignment with long-term
economic priorities. This designation
allows the city to be eligible for
pre-development funding.
And now, drum roll. Can I get a drum
roll, please?
Thank you. Today, the industrial park
was given a platinum designation through
the Ready Sites program. This is the
first standardized nationwide
way to evaluate how a prepared property
is for development with five different
levels ranging from emerging to
platinum.
Our industrial park is the first
designation in New Mexico. I'll say that
again. Our industrial park is the first
designation in New Mexico and the only
fourth platinum designation nationwide.
in the designation. It was stated that
Los Cusus has set a high bar for New
Mexico.
Great job, Elizabeth, to you and your
staff. Please pass along our
appreciation.
And with no further ado, last
announcement. Um you may see that Brad
Douglas looks a bit different today. And
you are correct. Brad is actually in
federal court um handling a high
priority uh case for us. And we have
Michael Reyes. He's an assistant
attorney, one of um um one of our
assistant attorneys, and he's been with
us four months, and I would like you to
know him a bit more. So, if that's okay,
Michael, um share a little bit about
Sure. Uh thank you. And I'll be brief
everybody. Uh yes. So, my name is
Michael Reyes. Um I've had the pleasure
of working for the city city's legal
department now for four months. Uh led
by uh uh led by the uh the great
attorney, Mr. Brad Douglas and uh and
and also Henry Becker as well. It's it's
it's been really um an easy transition
um working working with these um fine
gentlemen because um they've already
they're making I I see a pro a progress
right now where they're making the
office very strong and I'm just happy to
be a part of that. Um as well uh I am
not from Los Cruus but my wife is. She's
born and raised. I've lived here now for
four years. Um and and I'm and it's
really an honor for me to to live in
this city and and work for the city. Um
so thank you everybody.
Thank you Michael Mayor. That is all.
All right. Well, thank you Michael.
And uh with that I'll look for a motion
to adjurnn.
So moved.
Second.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
meeting. Councelor Mccclure. Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes.
Councelor Harris.
Yes.
Councelor Bencomo and Councelor Karan
are absent. Councelor Munoz.
Yes.
And mayor.
Yes.