City Council Meeting April 20, 2026

MINUTES

City Council

Monday, April 20, 2026 @ 1:00 PM

City Council Chambers, City Hall

PRESENT: Mayor Eric Enriquez, City Councilor Cassie McClure, City Councilor William Mattiace, City

Councilor Michael Harris, City Councilor Johana Bencomo, City Councilor Becky Corran, and Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz

ABSENT:

1. OPENING CEREMONIES 1.1 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - MAYOR ENRIQUEZ. 1.2 PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF

APPRECIATION/PROCLAMATIONS - MAYOR ENRIQUEZ. Mayor Enriquez recognized Casa de Peregrinos and Days for Girls.

Mayor Enriquez presented Robert Truelich with a proclamation for Kiwanis Club of

Las Cruces 100th Anniversary Celebration.

Mayor Enriquez presented Angelica Calderon with a proclamation for Sexual Assault

Awareness & Prevention Month.

Mayor Enriquez presented Jennifer Gorham and Cory Murphy with a proclamation for

National Public Safety Telecommunication Week.

Mayor Enriquez presented Wendy Shipley with a proclamation for National Volunteer

Month.

1.3 DEPARTMENTAL HIGHLIGHTS. Community Development

Chris Faivre, Community Development Director gave the overhead presentation.

Visit Las Cruces

Liz Vega, Event Manager gave the overhead presentation. 1.4 PETS OF THE WEEK. Amelia Corrales, Animal Services of the Mesilla Valley presented Pets of the Week.

2. CONFLICT OF INTEREST INQUIRY BY MAYOR AS REQUIRED BY LCMC

SECTION 2-27 (E)(2) 2.1 None.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 3.1 Jesus Frietze, Member of the Public said I am with the American Legion, Post 10 located on Madrid. We would like to extend an invitation to the Mayor and City Council for an event that we are hosting on Sunday, May 24th at 8 a.m. That event will take place at the St. Joseph Cemetery. That is the Sunday before Memorial Day. We will be placing flags at the gravesites of the Veterans. Those that would like to attend we would appreciate your participation and if you have any questions, you can reach me at 575-649-5407.

Michael Hays, Member of the Public said I am a non-Hispanic, white male resident of

Las Cruces. I am an American citizen born in the United States of America to parents who were American citizens born in the United States. I possess an embossed birth certificate, a passport and a New Mexico Driver’s License. I have no criminal record to serve as a pretext for an arrest as one of the worst of the worst. So, I think that I am okay, but I know that I am not okay with a militarized police department with its hostile deployment of LCPD officers with riffles at a Hispanic rally at Albert Johnson Park last

June or with its new unusual links between the LCPD and federal law enforcement agencies. My particular concern has been Chief Story’s request to City Council that it seek $500,000 in state funding to purchase five SWAT vehicles. By not asking for rational for this request, Council failed to exercise due diligence in approving his request. I asked Chief Story for his reasoning or reason for it, he did not respond. I have asked several elected officials to seek his rationale for me and at least one has tried to get it, but I have received nothing from them. Since the LCPD has resisted non-public requests for his rationale I make a public request to Chief Story. What was the rationale for your request for not only SWAT vehicles but for five of them? I reserve the remaining time of my speech for your answer, Chief Story. If I cannot get it now, I ask that council get it and make it public.

Mayor Enriquez said at this time it is public participation, there is no discussion on any of those items, Clerk has your information and we will get back to you.

Brandi Arguello, Member of the Public said I am here on behalf of South Central Solid

Waste Authority. We provide recycling services and solid waste services to the area and as our community continues to grow, we are expanding our services and our infrastructure to keep pace with the needs of a rapidly growing community. I would

like to extend in hopes of full transparency in keeping the community involved and informed of the movements of South Central Solid Waste Authority, we would like to invite you all to a community information meeting to be held on Thursday, April 30th at

6 p.m., at the DACC East Mesa Campus in the DASR Building in the commons room.

It is a great opportunity for people to get information on our growth, specifically our expansion into the East Mesa area, a secondary transfer station off of Holman Road.

The plans will be presented, questions will be received and leadership of SCSWA and will be there to answer questions in real time. I have a few flyers, informational flyers for the City Clerk for all of you. All of that information is readily available on our website, www.scswa.net. You can always call us on 575-528-3800 and all of this information is on our social media.

Dorreen White, Member of the Public said I was here a few weeks ago. I presented a packet to the council and I learned something today that when I presented the civil restraining order, it should have been Dona Ana and Otero and both got dismissed and I am still a victim of a cell phone, 1,300 miles away, being trafficked to every law enforcement agency that wants to violate me nightly whether it be a cyber mini, that cell phone or the chips and cameras in my body. So, I presented it to the Mayor for you to have a discussion or something but the stuff inside of me is killing me. The fact is that they can’t take the chips out. They can’t take the cameras out and they can’t take out what is inside of me and I need your support. As far as a volunteer I would like to volunteer for the Police Department. Mayor Enriquez, you said you would follow up with me, and I sent you a card recently following our last discussion that we had to follow through that to see what you were going to do, and it is crazy. I am up all night.

I know this cyber security stuff is in the future, and it is hard to believe that a person could get violated by a chip or cell phone 1,300 miles away. I have lived in the city of

Las Cruces. I like the city of Las Cruces. I got illegally evicted, a whole bunch of stuff there. It wasn’t failure to pay rent, or behavior or anything like that. I put 21 years in the military, 11 in civil service, and I should not be a victim of this crime, the

Department of Public Safety in the State of Missouri and I call it the Project and I would like for somebody to pass an ordinance, injunction or some kind of law on my behalf to prevent this from happening. Like they gave me a death sentence and anything that I can do to substantiate this knowledge that it will support what I am saying here and eventually somebody will act on it. I can go sue them and get a default judgement but that isn’t going to make them responsible for their, they could give me money, I am going to die but it is not going to make these people responsible for the laws that they broke against me and continue to break against me for ten years.

Lynn Moorer, Member of the Public said last meeting I provided clear evidence of the city’s lack of proper notice to property owners with galvanized piping, notice required by the federal Lead and Copper Rule. I characterized it as one way the city is attempting to naturalize its findings after the fact that the city has galvanized pipes.

Today I am providing evidence of a second method which shows the Utility

Department has betrayed all trust. There is strong evidence that a significant number of inspection reports have been fabricated. The city recently provided inspection reports for 36 properties that now say that galvanized pipes do not exist here.

Handout 1, which includes two examples of false inspection reports shows that in each case several months after an inspection report documented galvanized piping,

another inspection report was generated most bearing a different inspector’s name that records no presence of galvanized piping. I will provide copies of both reports for all 36 properties to anyone who is interested. No galvanized piping at all at any of the

83 properties has been replaced according to reported responses to several IPRA requests. No documents have been produced showing replacement of any galvanized piping and inventory records say the piping is galvanized. It is unbelievable that 36 inspections or 43% by 9 different inspectors would have misidentified galvanized piping. The Las Cruces Utilities’ must explain why the new reports don’t constitute falsification of records. That one inspector came up with most of the falsified inspection reports is suspicious especially since his name is on 11 of the original reports. Strange that he would precipitously change his mind about what the pipe material is. It smells like someone higher in the department instructed him to create dozens of bogus reports which now claim that none of the properties has galvanized piping including 11 he previously found conclusively to have galvanized pipes. Most of the changes in the bogus inspection reports make no sense in addition to galvanized turning into plastic, copper turns into plastic. The second inspection report for

Fairacres Elementary magically turns galvanized into plain steel which virtually never exists in Las Cruces without galvanization according to plumbers. A motive may be that denying the existence of galvanized piping preserves more than a $15 million fund to spend on things other than pipe replacement which was touted as the core reason for needing the money. Handout 2 records the Utilities Director statement that all the money could be spent on projects that have nothing to do with pipe replacement. She said they wouldn’t do that, but it appeared she changed her mind.

For those troubled by children drinking water from galvanized piping at a public school or troubled by falsification of records, now is the time for you to come off the bench.

Liz Rodriguez-Johnson, Member of the Public said at the October 6, 2025, meeting the council ratified an application for $15 million to the New Mexico Finance Authority prepared by Utilities’ staff. A key part of that funding application was the city’ s commitment to prioritize disadvantaged folks in the city’s inspection and replacement of lead and galvanized piping which is hazardous to public health. This is an update on what city records reveal about whether Utilities personnel are carrying out that promise. Our assessment used 2 measures which yielded similar results. The first examined all inspections carried out citywide during the first week of each month occurring after the City Council’s ratification of the funding application. Beginning the week of November 2nd through 8th, 2025 and continuing the first week of each succeeding month through March 2026, we examined the inspection reports and the estimated property valuations for each property inspected during those five weeks.

Analysis showed that of the 183 inspections conducted only 31 or 17% were for disadvantaged properties. Public records indicate that the median estimated value for the 152 non-disadvantaged properties the city inspected is roughly $40,000 higher than for the disadvantaged properties. The second measure examined twenty blocks in the downtown area in the vicinity of Mesquite and San Pedro Streets where the oldest properties in Las Cruces are located. All of the 194 properties in this 20-block area are classified as disadvantaged. Inspection reports show that Utilities personnel have inspected only 40 properties or 21%. This occurred from January to September

2025. City records did not show that any of the remaining 154 disadvantaged properties have been inspected. Taken together these measures clearly show that

Utilities personnel are not in fact prioritizing disadvantaged properties despite their

commitment to the state made to receive $15 million in funding in which the city must repay only a quarter. Instead, Utilities personnel are prioritizing the other 80% of properties across the city which are not disadvantaged and generally have much higher estimated values. The city must carry out its promise to actually prioritize disadvantaged properties. It is the only moral and legal option. Handout A and B document more properties with estimated values of less than $200,000. Handout C shows another 300 mobile homes that Utilities personnel have ignored and left off the map. They should all be inspected immediately. Those interested in documentation regarding any of these issues need only to ask.

Yoli Diaz, Member of the Public said I came before you at the last council meeting and I thanked you for filing the lawsuit against Memorial Medical Center. When I think about Memorial Medical Center’s Year 2014 cost cutting decisions I think about the people harmed. I think about lives put at risk. Lives that were forever changed and lives that were lost. I think about the woman who died because she was not treated when she needed care. I think about her 8-year-old son crying in the background when his fathered called me from Mesilla Valley Hospice, La Posada to say that this young mother died. I heard her young 8-year-old son crying, no, no, no. Unable to be comforted. I think about the woman who had so much faith, who truly believed she would beat cancer, but she did not get the treatment she needed it when she needed it at Memorial Medical Center. She died and her only teenage daughter was left without her. I think about the young mother of two school-aged children who said she went at least a year without the treatment she needed when she spoke. When a doctor warned that her untreated condition could leave her blind, I did everything I could to get her to UNM because Memorial Medical Center did not give her an appointment. I could not accept the reality of those children facing a future with a mother who was blind or worse. I think about the people Memorial Medical Center has stated that they do not have the ability to treat at all. Like the 32-year-old single mother with the 13-year-old son that now continues to have barriers for her needed treatment. I pray the solutions I have helped her with worked because the last thing I want to learn is that 13-year-old boy is left without his mother. I think about the residents who were required to make substantial upfront or full payments just to receive care. Others were told that they needed to obtain health insurance before they could even schedule an appointment. You have heard some of these stories in the national news, but many others like these never made headlines. I know them, I helped them. What about the people I didn’t know about? Memorial Medical Center policies did not protect access,they were barriers that denied access. Do not be distracted by Memorial Medical Center’s polished statements that attempt to obscure these truths. The path forward is clear. First the lawsuit, second termination of Life

Point, third, securing a new operator. One that is genuinely committed to the health, safety and dignity of this community. You have taken this path before, you can take it again but this time you must stand firm with greater clarity. Stronger evidence and unwavering commitment to accountability and transparency.

Vic Villalobos, Member of the Public said I feel like I kind of miss the boat a little bit on this has been kind of crazy, busy, work but I want to just kind of talk about something that I think has been kind of top of mind for everybody around here lately. Given my nearly 30 years of being part of a search and rescue team you know I have had the opportunity to work with local law enforcement, federal agents, state agencies. I work

with fire departments; I have worked with all kinds of different agencies and the one thing that we all agree upon to make ourselves better that you never hear us not say is we need less training. We need less training opportunities and we need less places to train. The only way that we can become better at what we do is through training and training facilities and things that offer that to us. I am not sure when the narrative for some of the city council became to defund the police. I get that we need more parks, we need housing, we need these things but not at the cost of public safety, and

I have a little problem, we heard Ken Binkley here a few meetings back talk about them when we were sold the whole GRT it was for public safety which we all agree upon but now it seems like public safety it just seems like everybody keeps adding I their own idea of what public safety is and I think that you are forgetting what the core of that is truly fire and police so, I know that some funds were removed from the

Police Department and the Fire Department for the training facility and I think there has been a lot of talk about police cars and things like that. Until you walk in their shoes you really have no idea what they need and all the things that they are doing to make it better. It is response time, it is training those officers. It is getting people to you quicker and I think we can all 100% agree that our police department from the upper management on down is doing a tremendous job with what they have here. I think we still see a lot of crime if you are on Valley and Picacho and that area but we also see the response getting better and having qualified officers that are training and have that kind of qualification and the ability to get better and I think that is really where that money needs to be going so s and I hope you guys really take that to heart because in the end training makes us all better.

Juan Garcia, Member of the Public said this Op Ed was in the Las Cruces Sun

Sunday, yesterday, it was written by Chief Story and I think it is worth sharing. “Technology has rapidly evolved in the past 19 years of my policing career. As technology has advanced, law enforcement is leveraging new tools to keep communities safe. Criminals are very effective at using technology to victimize people and defeat our efforts to catch and prosecute them. Police departments must keep pace. License plate readers, LPRs specifically has been a hot topic recently. These cameras capture and read license plates enabling law enforcement to quickly search for vehicles that are stolen. Linked to human trafficking or involved in other criminal activity. LPR technology also integrates with Amber or Silver Alerts alerting law enforcement in real time when a vehicle associated with an alert passes a camera. In

Las Cruces we have used this technology to help solve everything from homicides to victims to missing person cases. Our ability to locate and recover stolen vehicles has improved significantly since we implemented LPRs in 2021. Just recently the first clue of an attempted kidnapping on NMSUs campus came from an LPR. Because of this technology the NMSU Police Department arrested the suspect the following day.

While LPRs do not provide continuous tracking to identify who is behind the wheel they are one of the few tools available that can quickly surface actionable vehicle information in the moments it is needed most. This tool is just one piece of the puzzle, but it is a critical one. Guard rails are important, exist in both department policy and state law but the value of LPRs far outweighs reasonable privacy concerns. LPRs allow law enforcement to obtain justice for victims and in some cases prevent them from becoming victims in the first place”. And now some political hypocrisy when residents push back against Realize Las Cruces, a few council members openly mocked their worries about neighborhood safety tossing around, “not in my backyard”,

like an insult. Now fast forward to last month, CBP announces it might open a new station in Las Cruces and suddenly on April 3rd Councilor Corran tells the journal you will never hear me say not in my backyard ever except today.

Steve Montanez, Member of the Public said the last time I addressed this council my focus was on 2025 capital outlay, some of the priorities that were listed. I just wanted to kind of follow up on the 2026 capital outlay projects that were granted to Las

Cruces. I say this because one of these days somebody is going to have to really sit me down and explain to me the rhetoric or the narrative behind and the hostility towards the Las Cruces Police Department. Here we go, 1.7 million to Branigan

Library improvements, 72,000 for the for the Las Cruces Fire Station improvement,

100,000 for the Real Time Crime Center upgrade, 200,000 for Las Cruces affordable housing, 434 this is for Community of Hope, 3 mill Rio Grande Prep, 900,000 to Las

Cruces Women’s Improvement Association Building, 1 million to storm water retention, 3 million to Las Cruces Apodaca Park improvements and 2 million to dedicate to the proposed track for officer training. There is going to be some objections to police cars that are proposed today. I would really like anybody just to talk to a police officer. One of the officers that I talked to recently and when I met with him he explained to me the air conditioner was not working. He does not complain about it. He doesn’t take it anywhere else. He has a fan that he plugs in to try and assist. Just imagine in this temperature sitting in a vehicle without an air conditioner that is not working properly. These are the things that these officers, they put themselves through. They don’t really talk about but they really do rely on this body and our state officials to really come through with the funds necessary to do their jobs effectively, God forbid do their jobs comfortably every once in a while. Councilor

Harris, pulling $1 million away from the Las Cruces Police, it’s not going to be that effective. This track is going to get finished whether it is done through capital outlay, whether it is done through federal grants or whether it is done through this city budget process. However, I believe that was really a way for you to report back to the progressive special interest groups that you somehow won, that this was somehow a win. This isn’t just towards you, this is towards the three of you that you somehow felt that you won something by taking that away. I do guarantee you the way this city comes together these officers will get the support they need and once again 1.7 million Branigan is being taken care of. I assure you that and it will continue to be.

Leslie Woods, Member of the Public said Thursday, May 7th, 2026, is designated by the American Humanist Association as a National Day of Reason. A group of us hold a ceremony to celebrate and commemorate reason and the separation of church and state at noon that day here in front of City Hall. I quote Jamie Raskin, “Reason provides vital hope today for confronting the environmental crisis of today including civilization emergencies of climate change for advancing civil liberties for all including the rights of the LGBTQIA individuals, access to all reproductive health care such as in vitro fertilization, contraception and abortion and for cultivating the rule of law democratic institutions, justice and peace among nations”. Americans’ founders insisted on the primacy of reason and the knowledge of public health and drafted the constitution to prevent official establishment of religion and to protect freedom of thought, speech and inquiry into civil society. James Madison, author of the First

Amendment and fourth President of the United States stated, “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty and knowledge will forever

govern ignorance and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives”. I am here today to invite everyone to please join us on Thursday, May 7th at 12 noon here in front of Civil Hall to celebrate reason and its foundational role in the declaration and development of our nation. We will have speakers, snacks, drinks, and of course fun and friendship.

Haley Walker, Member of the Public said I am an organizer for Pro Choice Las

Cruces. Mr. Mayor, we do not agree on the subject of abortion. I think a woman has a right to decide what is best for herself to control her body and her reproduction, you don’t agree. You think a woman does not have the right to decide to get an abortion.

We both have equal rights to our opinion, we have the right to agree. I am a citizen of

Las Cruces, you are the Mayor of Las Cruces. I speak for only myself. You, Mr. Mayor are recognized as head of our city government and for all ceremonial purposes you speak for our city. Like it or not your voice has weight because of your office. That trust comes with responsibilities. Mr. Mayor I understand that your participation at the

Southwest Right to Life event on March 14th at the site of the women’s health center now under construction was an endorsement of their boycott against contractors and suppliers building the center but for the fact that you are the Mayor and appear to support the boycott you would not have been invited as speaker. Mr. Mayor you have no right to use your office to obstruct the construction of this facility. We, the people of this community have a constitution, laws, and elected officials who make laws and courts who interpret them. They have all affirmed a woman’s right to choose. Your religion does not authorize you to forbid our lawful rights. Obstructing the construction of abortion facility is obstructing a woman’s right to an abortion. Your support of the boycott is a slap in the face of any woman seeking an abortion in Las Cruces. Your religion grants you no privilege. Your religion is not our law. If you cannot reconcile your religion to your duties to the people who elected you then you should resign. I am alarmed that the city is not concerned about the harassment of medical patients at the facilities in your city and instead you are supporting those groups. We have to have volunteers, an army of women that are retired and have been fighting this fight for too long just to walk these patients, medical patients from their cars to the door because of the tactics of intimidation. That should be more of a concern than supporting these people. They are medical patients. Mr. Mayor renounce this boycott, tell us your religion does not define our rights. Please, Mr. Mayor, tell us you do not support the boycott.

Jim Hoerst, Member of the Public said I am here to speak on behalf of the Day of

Reason coming up May 7th, a few weeks from now. We hold these truths to be self- evident that all men are created equal endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our founders identified religion as a threat to liberty. That is why they drafted the first amendment.

That is why they separated church from state because they had centuries of experience with religion interfering with liberty. So, our founders sought to take away political power form clergy and from church and from religion and by subjecting or by designating religion and separate from government. What they wanted to do is institute reason as the basis of government. We have freedom because we have applied our reason to our experience. Our founders listened to enlightened like John

Locke and many others who identified natural rights. Rights given to men by their nature. We don’t need a government to tell us we have freedom of speech. We know

we have freedom of speech. All we need is governments that recognize it. We don’t need a government to tell us we have the right to believe whatever we want or don’t want to believe about God. We don’t need a government to tell us that. We know that from birth. So, the government doesn’t give us our freedoms, we give our government the authority to enforce our freedoms. The problem is that when we all don’t understand the words separation of church and state the same. For many the words separation of church and state just means that the church gets to do whatever it wants to do. That’s not the case.

Luke Keith, Member of the Public said I am the Chair of the Veterans Advisory Board and I wanted to take this opportunity to come up and introduce myself formally to all of you and look forward to working with all of you in the future I hope noticeably on the park and whatnot but also on what our Veteran organizations are doing. We are doing a lot for the community, and I think it is great and I think that is why I do what I do. I am a member of the VFW 3242 down on Mesquite and the little things that we have done for some people have been a way for it to fill my glass so that is why I like doing it. I look forward to working with all of you.

Lucas Herndon, Member of the Public said I came here today with a simple question.

What kind of Las Cruces do we want to build together? You will be voting today to approve the amended budget. Some has been said about that already and I am not saying that public safety doesn’t matter because it does. I am here to ask that when one department commands the largest share of our resources are we investing wisely inanything else that makes community safe strong and whole because safety isn’t about policing. Safety is about well-lit parks where families can gather. Safety is about libraries where young people have somewhere to go. Safety is about streets that don’t flood, recreation centers that keep our youth engaged and community spaces where neighbors become family. In November 2024, voters approved the gross receipts tax because they said yes to investing in our shared future. They wanted their dollars going to parks, streets, infrastructure and vital community improvements and just two weeks ago the council approved most of those missions but let me clear we cannot continue to grow police budgets while our shared spaces crumbled, we cannot prioritize community wellbeing while the largest portion of our general goes to one department year after year. When we fund parks, we fund mental health. When we fund libraries, we fund education. When we fund recreation centers, we fund crime prevention. These aren’t alternatives to public safety they are the foundation of it. I am asking this council to commit to a different path forward. Cap and reduce the police budget. Redirect future increases to shared community infrastructure, parks, libraries, recreation centers and streets and measure success not by how much we spend on policing but how many families have access to safe vibrant community spaces?

Today the council will also vote to delay road projects while also voting to approve purchasing more police vehicles. Please ask yourselves what kind of message does that send to Las Crucens across the city. Let’s build a city where every dollar reflects our commitment to family, community and fairness. Let’s invest in the shared spaces that bring us together instead of continuing to grow budgets that separate us.

4. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor Becky

Corran, to accept the agenda as presented.

RESULT: Carried

MOVER: City Councilor Michael Harris

SECONDER: City Councilor Becky Corran

AYES: Mayor Eric Enriquez, City Councilor Cassie McClure, City Councilor Michael

Harris, City Councilor Johana Bencomo, City Councilor Becky Corran, and

Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz

ABSENT: City Councilor William Mattiace

5. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 5.1 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 16, 2026. 5.2 WORK SESSION OF MARCH 23, 2026.

6. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR CONSENT AGENDA 6.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-125: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN EXISTING

CONTRACT PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF BULK

FUEL WITH RIO VALLEY BIOFUELS, LLC OF EL PASO, TEXAS VIA NEW

MEXICO STATE PURCHASING DIVISION CONTRACT NO. 50-80500-25-

17139 FOR A POSSIBLE TERM THROUGH JUNE 12, 2029 IN AN AMOUNT

NOT TO EXCEED $1,500,000 PLUS APPLICABLE TAXES ANNUALLY,

SUBJECT TO ANNUAL RENEWALS AND APPROVED BUDGET

APPROPRIATIONS (PROCUREMENT NO. 25-26-088). 6.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-126: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE

IN THE ANNUAL EXPENDITURE LIMIT FOR WORK UNIFORMS, SHOES

AND RELATED ITEMS WITH BAZAAR UNIFORMS AND MEN'S STORE,

LLC OF EL PASO, TEXAS TO AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $300,000

ANNUALLY, SUBJECT TO APPROVED BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS (PROCUREMENT NO. 24-25-078). 6.3 RESOLUTION NO. 26-127: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF

LAS CRUCES (CITY) TO FORMALLY REQUEST A ONE-YEAR TIME

EXTENSION FROM JUNE 30, 2026, TO JUNE 30, 2027, FOR NEW MEXICO

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (NMDOT) MUNICIPAL ARTERIAL

PROGRAM (MAP) CONTROL NO. HW2L100582 SPRUCE/TELSHOR/TRIVIZ

INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS. 6.4 RESOLUTION NO. 26-128: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF

PROGRAM (MAP) CONTROL NO. HW2L100618 S. WALNUT ST. AND E.

LOHMAN AVE. SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT. 6.5 RESOLUTION NO. 26-129: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF

LAS CRUCES (CITY) TO ACCEPT GRANT AWARDS FOR VARIOUS CITY

DEPARTMENTS THROUGH AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY’S ADOPTED

FY2026 BUDGET. 6.6 RESOLUTION NO. 26-130: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF

LAS CRUCES (CITY) TO ACCEPT VARIOUS BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS

FOR VARIOUS CITY DEPARTMENTS THROUGH AN AMENDMENT TO

THE CITY’S ADOPTED FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2025-26 BUDGET. 6.7 RESOLUTION NO. 26-131: A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE FY2026 - 2031

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM.

7. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR DISCUSSION 7.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-132: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN UPDATE

TO THE VEHICLE ACQUISITION PROGRAM. Mercedes Tomayko, Management Analyst gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Harris said this all seems relatively needed. I was out at the airport last week and I think that equipment is going to go a long way towards helping the airport out and maintaining the field. I have two questions on the Police vehicles specifically that one that Chief Story and I had talked about just kind of in general and another that was somewhat related, so the first one, I have noticed a trend, not in LCPD fortunately so I give them kudos for this but in surrounding departments of making the regular patrol are technically marked but it is like black-on-black logos. And I know one of the things that we have talked about is a big thing that helps deter crime is to have this visible presence and be out on the streets and everybody knows that we are there. So, when we are getting these vehicles I am hoping we are not going to try to mimic that trend and keep what we have been doing with our visible vehicles.

Jeremy Story, Police Chief said I am glad you asked that. It will allow me to address two things. One, all of these vehicles that we are talking about are marked police cars.

However, there are some vehicles out there that have the more subdued markings which are the SWAT vehicles that we had mentioned earlier. Those are F150 that are marked police cars, but they have kind of the lighter decals. As opposed to other

SWAT or tactical vehicles which tend to have no decals. We still wanted them to be marked but the vast majority of our fleet would be marked and we are using better decals now that are much higher visibility and don’t fade with the sun exposure.

Councilor Harris asked a few years ago, maybe not a few but a while back there was some discussion and approval for the funding to get ballistic windshield retrofits on a number of units and are these new units going to come with these ballistic windshields? We had a problem in District 3 specifically where an officer was shot through his windshield, so I want to see if we are addressing that.

Chief Jeremy Story said these new vehicles will come with the ballistic windshields.

We were able to actually switch vendors to save a lot of money and be able to get the windshields and still have a savings. I will say we have had three officers shot at, very near getting shot through windshields in the last 5 years or so. So, it is not a one-time thing.

Councilor Munoz asked the vehicle age again, could you share that with me and is that within standard or have we just kind of stretched that number a little but?

Mercedes Tomayko said the age on the vehicles, they are ranging from manufactured years of 2012 through 2014. A lot of these will be the Dodge Chargers. So, we will be moving them out and for the amount of wear and tear that these vehicles get I think that this is stretching them out a little bit and this will also help us save money on maintenance costs because these vehicles are in a lot.

Councilor Bencomo said last week Municipal Court was here, Judge Filosa was here and they had a vehicle in their presentation in their budget request. Is that going to live separately from this program?

Mercedes Tomayko said they haven’t alerted me to a purchase so at this time I do have one vehicle actually approved for 2027 for Municipal Court. It is actually in 2027 not in 2026.

Councilor Bencomo asked City Manager does that sound right? I just want to make sure that from last week’s presentation that we have all the bases covered? Yes, everyone he is nodding his head yes.

City Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael

Harris, to Approve Resolution No. 26-132.

MOVER: City Councilor Becky Corran

SECONDER: City Councilor Michael Harris

AYES: Mayor Eric Enriquez, City Councilor Cassie McClure, City Councilor William

Mattiace, City Councilor Michael Harris, City Councilor Johana Bencomo, City

Councilor Becky Corran, and Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz 7.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-133: A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY'S

PARTICIPATION IN HOUSING NEW MEXICO'S REHAB 2 RENTAL

PROGRAM, A RENTAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM FUNDED THROUGH

HOUSING NEW MEXICO. Kevin Wilson, Housing Development Specialist gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Corran asked I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about single unit redevelopment versus multi-unit and if there are limits on people who have multiples units? Is it per unit or per individual landlord or can you talk a little bit more about that?

Kevin Wilson said there is a limit of $25,000 per unit. Each landlord per property is limited to $50,000 per unit but, New Mexico Housing has also indicated to us their flexibility in unique situations to look at specific properties that might need more investment than that. So, they are open to the possibility but also limiting the amount of debt that they put the landlords in.

Councilor Corran said that is what I wondered. I imagined buying 5 of whatever the thing is probably a little easier, so it is good to hear that there is some of that flexibility for folks who have small quad-plex and stuff like that.

Councilor Mattiace asked do you have already specific addresses identified that need the rehabilitation so that when the funds become available?

Kevin Wilson said there are a number of properties that have been considered at this point and time. We have three voucher distributors here in the city of Las Cruces being the Housing Authority, La Casa and Mesilla Valley Community of Hope. They are the ones who are most witness to the needs and the conditions and the specific units, so we are taking advisement to them while also targeting our properties for specific MRA areas.

Councilor Mattiace asked would Natalie consider some recommendations from city council, you know I have some properties in District 2, and they are voucher occupied and they are in pretty bad shape?

Kevin Wilson said we are certainly open to any suggestions along the way and when funding does get released again from the state if it does then there is already a number of properties and landlord owners who are very interested in hopefully meeting with us and see what we can do. There are quite limited funds per each city.

It has been kind of a pilot program for the state at this point in time.

Councilor Mattiace asked if the landlord doesn’t comply to keep up with whatever the policies and rules are then they could be clawed back some of the funds if it comes to that? On the voucher participant is there a system in place responsibility and requirements for those that are in the facilities and who monitors the participants with the vouchers? How are they controlled if there is destruction of the property for the landlords?

Natalie Green, Housing & Neighborhood Revitalization Administrator said so voucher holders when they rent a facility, they usually have a lease or most programs mandate that is just a one year lease and those lease agreements will have the rules and requirements. The onus is on the landlord to enforce their lease agreements with their tenants.

Councilor Mattiace asked would you be as to kind to as to send me a copy?

Natalie Green said I can send some sample leases.

Councilor Harris asked these inspections and standards, do they by chance require a certain level of air conditioning in units?

Kevin Wilson said if there is indeed an air conditioning unit on the property then the

State of New Mexico’s Renter Laws does require that that remain operational and it is concluded as one of the appliances of the lease. Does rental to rehab consider that?

The program uses the Inspire, which is the new real estate inspection. It replaced

HQS, Housing Quality Standards and again if there were an air conditioner in the unit it would have to be functional however at this point in time in the state of New Mexico there is no requirement for an air conditioning unit in any home.

Councilor Harris asked are there requirements in other cities?

Kevin Wilson said I am sure there are, but I could not answer that with confidence.

Councilor Harris said just for public benefit, when we participate in this program the city doesn’t assume any liability for these loans, these aren’t city funds being expended? These are state funds that are just being routed through the city and then if anything goes wrong the city actually stands to benefit.

Keving Wilson said you are exactly correct. We do not have collection obligations nor are we liable for any kind of default along the way. However, if the landlords do default then the remainder of the balance that they have to pay back does revert back to the city for affordable housing uses.

Harris, to Approve Resolution No. 26-133.

Councilor Becky Corran, and Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz 7.3 RESOLUTION NO. 26-134: A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE A REAL

ESTATE PURCHASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF LAS CRUCES

AND ANTHONY AND SYLVIA SMITH FOR THE PURCHASE OF A .979

ACRE PARCEL OF LAND LOCATED AT 911 W. AMADOR FOR THE

PURCHASE PRICE OF SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY THOUSAND

DOLLARS ($720,000) IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROVISIONS OF LCMC

1997, SECTION 2-1312. Natalie Green, Housing & Neighborhood Revitalization Administrator gave the overhead presentation. Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Becky Corran, to Approve Resolution No. 26-134.

MOVER: Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz

Councilor Becky Corran, and Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz

8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS 8.1 COUNCILOR MUNOZ APPOINTS RANDI HIMELGRIN TO THE LIBRARY

BOARD.

8.2 JAY BECERRA City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor Becky

Corran, to appoint Jay Becerra to the Senior Programs Advisory Board.

Councilor Becky Corran, and Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz 8.3 ADRIAN VESETH-NELSON City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor Becky

Corran, to appoint Adrian Veseth-Nelson to the Veterans Advisory Board.

Councilor Becky Corran, and Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz 8.4 THOMAS CHAPIN City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor Becky

Corran, to appoint Thomas Chapin to the Veterans Advisory Board.

9. NOTICE OF PROPOSED ORDINANCE(S)

1) There will be no public discussion.

2) A Councilor may ask staff for clarification on the proposed ordinance(s). 9.1 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-019; ORDINANCE NO. 3111: AN ORDINANCE

AUTHORIZING A REAL ESTATE PURCHASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN

THE CITY OF LAS CRUCES AND CLS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS, LLC

FOR THE SALE OF APPROXIMATELY 15.30 ACRES OF MUNICIPALLY

OWNED LAND WITHIN THE LAS CRUCES INNOVATION AND

INDUSTRIAL PARK FOR THE PURCHASE PRICE OF FIVE HUNDRED

SEVENTY-THREE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED NINETY-TWO DOLLARS ($573,792.00) IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROVISIONS OF LCMC 1997,

SECTION 2-1312. Council agreed to bring it forward.

9.2 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-020; ORDINANCE NO. 3112: AN ORDINANCE TO

AUTHORIZE THE CONVEYANCE OF A CITY-OWNED VACANT PARCEL

OF LAND KNOWN AS THE SOUTH 75' OF LOTS 21, 22, 23, & 24, BLOCK

20, PALMER'S SUBDIVISION (AKA 705 N. 5TH STREET) TO NEW WIND

INCORPORATED DBA CROSSTOWN MINISTRIES FOR THE

DEVELOPMENT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING AS AUTHORIZED UNDER

THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACT (THE ACT)

NMSA 1978 CHAPTER 104, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CITY OF LAS

CRUCES AFFORDABLE HOUSING GENERAL OVERSIGHT ORDINANCE. Council agreed to bring it forward.

9.3 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-021; ORDINANCE NO. 3113: AN ORDINANCE TO

AUTHORIZE THE CONVEYANCE OF FOUR CITY-OWNED VACANT

PARCELS, LOCATED AT (1) 1262 N. TORNILLO STREET, (2) 1252 N.

TORNILLO STREET, (3) 1242 N. TORNILLO STREET, AND (4) 1040 N.

CAMPO STREET, TO TIERRA DEL SOL HOUSING CORPORATION FOR

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SINGLE-FAMILY AFFORDABLE HOUSING

UNDER THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACT (THE ACT) NMSA 1978 CHAPTER 104, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CITY

OF LAS CRUCES AFFORDABLE HOUSING GENERAL OVERSIGHT

ORDINANCE. Council agreed to bring it forward.

10. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BOARD REPORTS AND COMMENT 10.1 COUNCILOR MCCLURE None. 10.2 COUNCILOR MATTIACE None. 10.3 COUNCILOR HARRIS None. 10.4 COUNCILOR BENCOMO I have one thank you. I wanted to thank Transit and Community of Hope actually for getting together and participating in a deescalation training and I just thought that was really great and love to see that kind of collaboration. So, thank you to both of you for doing that.

My other request is for City Manager and PIO. Two things in this. I think given the budget conversation last week I think that it is important that we have a coordinated message out there for our community and be really transparent about what is happening, why and the path moving forward also, I want to request some sort of coordinated messaging on the new GRT funds. Last week I did a media interview to sort of counter some really disappointing misinformation that a local conservative

State Senator was providing the community with, and I think it is important to counter those types of things when there is a vacuum of information, things get misinterpreted and worse misrepresented. So, I think it is important that we talk about the new GRT funds, how they are going to be spent and why. Talk about the new GRT funds, they belong to the public not to any particular department, so there was truly no diverting of any funds it was just a vision that we all, sort of blank slate that we all came together to make our recommendations. I think that for most of us on the council certainly came that day ready to make compromises on the vision that we saw for the GRT.

Some of us walked away, perhaps disappointed in some of the things but I think again

that is what happens when you compromise, the whole thing was truly a win. The new

GRT funds that the community gave us and approved and we owe it to people to do right by them and to provide accurate information and to ensure that we aren’t just allowing misinformation to go abundant. I think the city has a responsibility to put out a message that is coordinated and that gets to as many folks as possible. Whether people choose to accept it or not is a different story but at least we are putting out factual and correct information for the public to absorb and respond to, and you know ask us questions about and hold us accountable for. So, thank you Ikani and PIO for listening to my recommendation.

10.5 COUNCILOR CORRAN I wanted to give a quick shout out and point of reflection. Some of us went to the

Museum’s After Dark Adults Night at the Museum on Friday night which was really fun and interesting and next month is 90’s night so I hope to see some of you all out there in your best 90’s garb but the museums are also part of a pilot project with the

Smithsonian as part of the network for understanding culture I guess and they asked a lot of interesting and critical questions about our cell phone use and I just wanted to really shout out that that was a really fun exercise and great to reflect on in community on Friday nights so gratitude to the Quality of Life museum’s team for making that a fun and interesting evening and causing me to reflect on my cell phone use very critically.

The second thing that I wanted to note was the Mesa Vista Public meeting that will be happening tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. happening tonight at the Dona Ana College East

Mesa, 2800 Sonoma Ranch Boulevard. I think in the auditorium, the same place the

South Central Solid Waste meeting will be happening next week. I hope that folks will be able to join. This is a huge transformational project that I think it is really important that the community understands where we are headed in the Mesa Vista conversation so I hope that folks will join that meeting tonight if they can. 10.6 COUNCILOR MUNOZ Along with Councilor Corran I hope to encourage folks to also attend the session at the DACC campus tonight. It should be very interesting. I know residents, it is transformational. There will be a lot of questions, and I appreciate the staff who will be there to answer those questions to ensure that we are completely educated as to what is happening.

I have been reflecting on the 13-year-old that passed away and I know that we have all been thinking about that. I know it’s very difficult and I do not image and I don’t want to imagine being the family of that 13-year-old and how that has affected our entire community and it continues to affect our community. So I am challenging myself and I would like to challenge others to do what we can to make a difference and it reminds me of the parable of the starfish after a really bad storm there were a lot of starfish stranded on the beach and there was a young lady that kept picking starfish and throwing back into the sea. A man sees her and just kind of shakes his head. She continues to throw the starfish in the sea. Man comes up to her and says, what are you doing? I am putting these back in the sea, they are stranded. How can you possibly make a difference? What does this change? She pauses for a minute, she

thinks, she stops, she picks up another starfish throws it in the sea and says, made a difference for that one. So, whatever we can do when we go forward it’s not this or that, maybe it is all of the above or just our coming together to prevent tragedies like this from happening in our community.

10.7 MAYOR ENRIQUEZ To add to that there are things going and so I just want to say this weekend, on

Saturday we had breakfast, a brunch for all of the volunteers. So, thank you Catrina and Wendy for putting that breakfast to show our appreciation to all of our volunteers and we did the proclamation earlier but there was breakfast for them to show the appreciation that we as a city have for them and also last night was a banquet for the

Mayor’s Top Teens. There was 24 students. They excelled in school activities, building their character and have gone through some kind of adversity that they have overcome and a lot of this is great for the community because there is limited city involvement. It is all volunteers and groups and sponsors that come together and that is what it takes, it takes a community to come together, and I appreciate Councilor

Mattiace for starting that years ago. That was number 19 last night so thank you.

11. CITY MANAGER REPORT 11.1 IKANI TAUMOEPEAU There was a public comment that had a question regarding our vehicles in PD, and I just wanted to read that and share a response. I believe the question was why the city was buying militarized SWAT vehicles? And here is the response, Council you can remember two years ago there were legislators in our region not necessarily in Las

Cruces but in the region, that supported regional response, we have a contract with cities adjacent to us in our area because we have a bigger police department they respond regionally and so we have regional response and we have SWAT teams that will go out to other communities and this is why Senator Brantley, Senator Cervantes, and Representative Dow pitched in $620,000 to this to support the acquisition of vehicles for regional response. This alleviates the burden on our funding mechanism.

We had our fleet administrator, Mercedes who does a fantastic job who is in that right now as an interim and we appreciate all of her help but our VAF is limited in funding and so this was at a time when GRT was not identified and we didn’t have allocations for that so we do appreciate our legislators always being willing to help but the purpose of it is it went to 8 F150 trucks. It was assigned and is assigned to members of SWAT teams for the purpose of regional response and call outs. So, I just wanted to make that clear and again 8 F150 trucks.

The last announcement that I have is there was another question that dealt with the appropriations and legislative update for 2026. That is perfect timing because next

Monday we have Christine updating you council and the public on 2026 legislative updates. We received about $20 million. Again, we appreciate our local legislators and our governor for that but more to come from our amazing City Clerk.

12. ADJOURNMENT

12.1 City Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz, to adjourn at 3:03 p.m.

SECONDER: Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz

Mayor

City Clerk