City Council Meeting March 16, 2026

MINUTES

City Council

Monday, March 16, 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 City Councilor John Munoz

ABSENT:

1. OPENING CEREMONIES 1.1 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - COUNCILOR CORRAN. 1.2 PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF

APPRECIATION/PROCLAMATIONS - COUNCILOR CORRAN. Councilor Corran introduced Charles Tucker, Inspector General who recognized organizations who assisted with the 2025 Memorial Day Event at Veterans Park. 1.3 DEPARTMENTAL HIGHLIGHTS. Carol Brey, Quality of Life Director gave an overhead presentation.

Mayor Enriquez asked on the tax preparation assistance if you have at the library, that is also for Spanish speakers as well, right?

Carol Brey said yes, English and Spanish and there are different days that it is available that you can see on our website, both Branigan Library and Munson Center.

We often have a waiting list, so we advise people to get there early.

Jimmy Moreno, Interim Assistant Director Public Works gave an overhead presentation.

Chris Faivre, Community Development Director gave an overhead presentation.

Councilor Bencomo said I will say that initially I was somewhat disappointed that we

would not be hearing back until June/July for the possible adoption but throughout your presentation it seems to me that because we are raising the urgency of the conversation even that there is movement happening anyway without even the policy being enacted yet.

Chris Faivre said that is correct. Part of that has to do with some of the scheduling just for Work Sessions. We have a busy Work Session schedule coming up this spring but part of it is that we are still vetting a lot of those properties that we would eventually be approaching from the stand point of that ordinance and so we wanted to have as much as that data done up front before we had this ordinance in place so we knew exactly how many properties and who we needed to reach out to when that ordinance comes into effect. 1.4 PETS OF THE WEEK. Carol Nielson, Animal Services Center 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 Kathe Stark, Member of the Pubic said today I am wearing my Animals Advocates for

Change hat, and I am here to thank everybody who participated and was involved in the Billy and Nani animal cruelty case with the bassets. First, I want to thank the construction workers who saw Billy being beat with a rock in the backyard where he lived, for videotaping that cruelty and being willing to get involved. Thank you to Las

Cruces Animal Control and Las Cruces Police Department for their efforts to thoroughly investigate the situation, to make a referral to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution under state law. Next to Dr. Calista and her staff for caring for Billy and checking on Nani and for getting over 175 signatures on a letter to the court on the dogs’ behalf. Then there were countless residents that stood up and wrote letters to the court, attended court hearings, expressed their concern for the two dogs and insisted that the offender be held fully accountable. Thank you to the jury who heard the evidence and rendered a verdict of guilty and to Judge Perea who imposed the sentence under state law. Finally thank you to District Attorney Fernando Macias for his prosecution and for keeping a promise that he made to us that he would vigorously prosecute animal abuse and cruelty cases, and I think he said it best, “The conviction reflects the community’s concern over animal cruelty. We believe and our legal system reminds us that animals are sentient beings when we act to protect them, we aren’t just enforcing the law we are honoring a shared commitment to basic human decency”. Billy was lucky, he survived because people got involved and the system worked. Too many others aren’t that lucky. My hope is that other animal abusers in our community will heed the outcome of this case and stop their inhumane treatment of animals if for no other reason than to avoid an 18-month sentence, one

year probation, anger management training and a $5,000 fine. Finally for the person or persons who are torturing, mutilating and killing cats in the South Main area you will be identified, and you will be held accountable. The same people who stepped up and spoke for Billy and Nani will step up and speak for those cats. So, stop it.

Lynn Moorer, Member of the Public said here to speak in support of full compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule improvements, the federal rule that requires that all lead and galvanized piping requiring replacement be replaced and requires among several things that all of the folks in the city be truthfully and timely informed about the nature of their piping. Any ethical attorney would agree that regardless of how hard it may be to understand or even if you object to a law or rule you have a duty to comply with it. Neither ignorance nor objection to the law is a defense. Regardless of the size or state of your ego, all council members and city staff have a responsibility to do what is right for all citizens. It is not acceptable for any staff or council member to lie or misrepresent the facts on any subject, whether it is water sampling results, whether a document exists, how the city is really spending millions of dollars in funding, what inspections of piping actually reveal or whether half the city has been left out. Nor is it acceptable to cover up the truth or hide from the public non-sensitive information that should be and used to be available publicly but was removed from the public domain when citizens started raising questions about that information which directly effects their lives, their health and that of their children and unborn children as well as their property values. My colleague Liz Rodriguez-Johnson and I go to considerable lengths to provide factual information and raise important concerns backed by solid indisputable documentation so that you and city staff can be alerted to them and take reasonable actions to address them honestly. On behalf of the many Las Crucens we represent, many of whom you know we again urge you to put public health and safety first. Unfortunately, it seems clear that current Utility staff have neither the interest nor the competence to address serious issues implicated by the rule. A thoroughly honest competent and independent engineer with management experience and no connections to New Mexico must be brought in to tackle with broad based approach these far-reaching problems that are affecting Las Cruces water drinkers right now.

The consultant that the Utilities Board just hired is clearly not this in many respects.

What we need is someone who is widely recognized as top in the field of water engineering and management and fully conversant with the federal rule.

Liz Rodriguez-Johnson, Member of the Public said when Las Cruces Utilities applied for the $15 million in funding to assist in carrying out its responsibility under the Lead and Copper Rule it promised to prioritize disadvantaged properties. The city is obliged to repay just a quarter of that $15 million based on its portrayal of the city as severely disadvantaged. The public needs to know that Las Cruces Utilities has classified $1 million homes as disadvantaged. Drawn from the Utilities spreadsheet provided to the state, Handout A is a list of the properties in the San Andres Estates and University

Estates water systems that Utilities designates as disadvantaged. We have looked up estimated valuations for the properties and incorporated that information into the list,

75% in the San Andres system and the 93% in the University Estates systems are valued at $300,000 or more. These are properties in blue. The Utilities Department has said that all of these properties are disadvantaged. It is preposterous because some of these properties are valued at more than $1 million yet Utilities classifies them as disadvantaged. This is just the San Andres and University Estates list, wait till

you see how high they go in the Las Cruces Municipal water system disadvantaged list is finished. It is a much larger list, and it is also ludicrous. Note all the don’t knows on this list. This information was drawn from the Utilities’ own spreadsheets documenting service lines in each of the five water systems. Utilities’ personnel don’t know of any pipes that are now designated non-lead were ever previously lead.

Utilities’ personnel don’t know if there are any lead connectors in the piping. Utilities’ personnel don’t know if there is a lead solder in the service line. Despite their claims to the contrary this shows that Utilities’ personnel don’t actually know whether Las

Cruces has the lead pipe problem. Each of the sheets designated in blue on the

University Estates list must be removed from the disadvantaged list. None of these high dollar properties should take precedence over properties that are valued at less than $200,000. Handouts B, C, and D show more low-income properties that should be inspected first in which piping if found to be lead or galvanized, should be replaced first. To do otherwise would be a clear violation of the commitment the city made to receive the $15 million of which they only need to repay a quarter. We would like to see some clear progress. We want to see some evidence that appropriate steps are being taken to address these gross inequities.

Doreen White, Member of the Public said I presented recently a packet to the city council. It was in a messenger envelope and it was addressed to everybody. The purpose of that package was to show two things. Our chronological history and our ongoing history. Several years ago, I was infused with cameras and chips. I have a decimeter over there, I have a chip here, here, and four in the back. I have several implanted in my body and not to mention litigation, I went up against the state of

Mexico, Judge Martin said it is not like they didn’t break any laws, there is no laws to charge them with and in the meantime those nuclear particles that was implanted on me is a form of radiation and the sun radiation marries up with the body and I probably lost about 60 pounds since I left Missouri. I am incapable of using social media, a cell phone, my mail is interrupted and this is the Department of Public

Safety, and I call it the Cell Phone Chip Act, because a person can sit behind me with a cell phone and violate me. The cyber minis that rotate around the neighborhood or for military, sometimes I have 12 to 15 above my home. Ji suits in my trailer running up and down the street next to my home in Missouri, my backyards wherever I live.

So, there is a violation of First Amendment, Fourth and Fourteenth. So, I am here in front of you because I am dying from the stuff inside of me. I have asked for a restraining order, when Judge Martin dismissed it, I said, you just gave every law enforcement agency the right to discriminate me, violate my body, and they could stop my heart and the coroner will say it is murder. I am at wits end and I wanted to bring it to your attention.

Barbara Corral, Member of the Public said Yoli had an article published yesterday that

I am going to read to you from the Albuquerque Journal. “Memorial Medical Center is failing Las Cruces’ most vulnerable. As a patient advocate, I would like to begin with a story from a Dona Ana County resident I recently assisted. This 76-year-old man was born and raised in Las Cruces. He worked over 48 years in three local lumber yards and with his wife of 56 years raised a family here. After her death from cancer on May

30th 2025, he didn’t even have time to grieve before he was diagnosed with cancer himself on August 7th. I knew this story because I lived it with my parents. This man lost his partner, was diagnosed with cancer and became a low-income resident in less

than two months. When his medical bills became overwhelming his daughter reached out to me. I contacted his provider Memorial Medical Center to find out what financial assistant programs were available. I received no response. I then advised the daughter to do the same. She too received no call back. At a pre-op appointment she finally spoke with a supervisor. The supervisor said that her father was not considered indigent because he had insurance but offered a payment plan, no brochures or paperwork were provided. On November 28th the man instead received a statement from Care Payment, a third-party company, it wasn’t a detailed bill, just a charge amount and due date. I have since provided the family with an attestation of indigency form per the patient’s Debt Collection Protection Act to submit to MMC. In November I attended MMC Board meetings to publicly request their financial assistance policies, a request I have made multiple times since 2021. MMCs 2024 community impact report claims the hospital provided $46.5 million in charity and uncompensated care yet I cannot get a breakdown of how that care was distributed. This lack of transparency reflects deep seeded issues at MMC, including its controversial clouser of its psychiatric ward in 2014 and 2022. My advocacy led me to file Inspection of Public

Records Act requests. One document I received was a 2014 email from then CEO

John Harris stating MMC needed to chart a new course focused on aggressive and immediate expense reduction and revenue enhancement, other IPRA documents from the former Chief Financial Officer detailed revisions to the hospital indigent policy that limited care including the refusal of treatment to cancer patients that couldn’t pay upfront.”

Lori English, Member of the Public said first of all Mayor Enriquez I would like to make a public apology to you. There was a post on Facebook a day or two ago about you attending an event. I think it was a groundbreaking or something like that and I made a very rude comment online in response to that and I just want to publicly apologize to you for my comment because I misread the post. I thought that it was something that it wasn’t. You will know what it is when you hear other people talk to you about it. I just want to make a public apology to you for my comments on Facebook. Second of all the flag I hold, yesterday I went to Golden Corral and on my way leaving Golden

Corral right behind McDonalds off of Avenida de Mesilla there was a group of homeless people, and they had three wheelchairs out there. Later found out that one of the wheelchairs belonged to Memorial Medical Center and one of the wheelchairs belonged to MountainView Regional Medical Center. They were using this flag as a mat. There are footprints on it. You can tell they ate quite a bit at McDonalds. There is ketchup, mustard stains and who knows what. As a 100% disabled United States

Marine I felt it my job and my duty and also my privilege and honor to stop, open the back end of my SUV, I walked up and was very polite and respectful. I said, is anybody here, because I couldn’t see any people, they were walking around. There is like 6 or 8 of them. One guy was drugged out or drunk or recovering from a good night, he said ya. I said are you a Veteran? He said no I am not damn Veteran. I opened the back of my SUV and I picked up the flag and said I am taking the flag in the name of the United States and the United States Marine Corp. I picked up the flag and run and you never see a Marine that is 78 move so fast, but I grabbed the flag, ran to my car, tossed it in the back of my car, jumped in my car and left. I called the police on the way home and I went back a couple of hours later, thank you Chief

Story, your people are on the job. They were gone and that is how they got the notice.

So, I just want you to know that this flag is going to be surrendered to the American

Legion to be disposed of properly and it was my honor and my privilege and I wish more people would pay attention to these homeless people and what they are doing to our city and our country with disrespect.

Yoli Diaz, Member of the Public said I am not here as a mother or daughter that I am.

I am not here to ask you feel the fear I felt when my oldest son was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 23. I am not here to ask you to feel the pain, the loss, the trauma

I felt watching my father suffer and die from cancer. I am not here to ask you to imagine what a cancer patient feels. That is for another time. I am here because I believe there is a basic moral rule. We do not harm the sick, the disabled, the elderly or our Veterans. We help them. When anyone harms the most vulnerable, they cross a line. Memorial Medical Center has crossed that line again. In September 2023,

MMC failed to assist a disabled woman enrolled in the Dona Ana County Health Care

Assistance Program when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. More recently

MMC failed to properly screen a 76-year-old lifelong resident, born here. MMC created the problems that followed, including exposing themselves to a violation of the

New Mexico’s Patient Debt Collection Protection Act. MountainView Regional Medical

Center was sued in 2022 for this act and settled for violating this same law in August

2025. MMC should have known and learned from that. MMC workflow which you have a copy right now and it is highlighted in yellow shows that if a patient has any insurance MMC stops screening. MMC should screen for indigency through the

County’s Health Care Systems Program and the Patients Debt Collection Protection

Act. MMC shows them in that workflow last. Both are New Mexico statutes. MMC’s admin policy 815 contains, no I am going to use the word meaningful but I don’t even see it Charity Care or Community Benefit Care and despite their claims MMC and its corporate office have filed the required annual reports under the Patients Debt

Collection Protection Act showing only 110, 103, 127, 133 indigent cases over the last four years. Shockingly low for low income, high uninsured county. If MMC had reviewed the resolution which is on your next page that is on their website, they would have recognized hardship exemptions including the death of a close family member under Chap. In my view MMC did more than fail morally when they screened a 76- year-old resident. They violated New Mexico law and as I recall the lease and asset purchase agreement requires MMC to obey the law. Your attorneys can confirm this.

It is past time to terminate Life Point and bring an operator who puts patients and community above profit.

Jovanny Hernandez, Member of the Public said I would like to say first of all that I appreciate the efforts of members of this council and members of the city of Las

Cruces for their hard work and making sure that we have sustainable infrastructure here and in an ever changing environment and so I would like to give them their flowers for that. I would like to ask that we make more real progress taking into account the voices of the community, especially young people who live in Las Cruces on these things like that. So very briefly I wanted to mention that, and I unfortunately have to take some time to address Eric Enriquez. Last weekend Eric reaffirmed his allegiance to the ranks of such despicable human beings like Vice President JD

Vance by speaking at a southwest addition of the murderous and all-around anti- health care national March For Life, which the Vice President did also on the 14th.

Eric, I listen to you, actually before I give you anymore facetime, I would like to set some of the record straight about what the Ocotillo Sexual and Reproductive Health

Care Center is. It is a collaborative effort of multiple organizations in the community including the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Bold Futures and many others that provides much needed reproductive healthcare access to Southern New

Mexico including STD, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, hormonal treatments, contraception and family planning support amongst many, many other holistic wrap around services that are desperately needed here. Eric, I listen to you talk and hear the boring way you align yourself with anti-immigrant rhetoric. I hear you and I listen to the way you boringly align yourself with anti-women, anti-reproductive healthcare spaces and I remember you voted no last year for the welcoming communities resolution. Some news for you Eric as it seems that you may have forgotten we are both brown skinned Latino men and none of your votes will save you from being targeted by racist anti-immigrant federal government. Recuerdate de esto, tienes el nopal en la frente cabron. Recuerdate de las mujeres que te dieron la luz.

Elige el camino de cuidado genuino y acuerdate de las mujeres de ante passado.

Recuerda cada palabra que cae de tu vocico tiene reparaciones reales.

Lucas Herndon, Member of the Public said I stand before you as a resident who believes in Las Cruces, our families, our neighborhoods and our shared future. In

November 2024, you trusted voters with a question. Should we invest in ourselves?

The answer was clear. Thousands of Las Cruces families approved the GRT increase because they understand what research now confirms. Safe communities aren’t built through enforcement alone. They are built through investment and place. The

Brookings Institute studied violence across American cities and found something powerful. When you invest in parks, libraries, community centers, and streets, you reduce violence. Not someday, now. The built environment shapes behavior. A well-lit park where children play is safer than an abandoned lot. A community center where youth gather after school prevents more crime than any patrol car. Meanwhile the center on juvenile crime and criminal justice released devastating data despite record law enforcement spending nationwide crime clearance rates have dropped 41%. More officers, more budgets, fewer crimes solved. In 2024 only 44% of violent crimes were solved. Enforcement heavy approaches have failed. We cannot continue down a path that costs more and delivers less. Let me be clear, pouring more money into enforcement hasn’t worked. Real safety comes from investment in our communities where children have places to go, where families can gather, where neighbors know each other. When New Mexicans talk about responsibility we mean caring for our neighbors. When we talk about family, we mean ensuring every child has a safe place to grow. When we talk about fairness we talk about neighborhood deserves investment not just wealthy ones. Las Cruces voters entrusted council with approximately $11 million annually in GRT revenue. They didn’t ask for band aids, they asked for lasting change. They want their children to walk to school safely. They want seniors to gather without fear. They want small businesses to thrive on streets that feel like home. Here is what the community is asking you to do. First prioritize

GRT funding for community spaces, parks, recreation centers, libraries and youth programs in neighborhoods that have been overlooked. Second, invest in infrastructure that connects us, sidewalks, lighting, trails, and transit that makes every street welcoming. Third, measure success not by arrests but by community wellbeing, fewer violent incidents, more youth engaged, more families using public spaces. Las

Cruces has always been resilient. We have navigated hard times together, but resilience shouldn’t mean accepting less than we deserve. We deserve communities

where families can thrive. The research is clear and the voters have spoken. Now is the time for the council to lead. Invest in place, invest in people, invest in Las Cruces.

Diane Starbuck, Member of the Public said I am speaking for myself. Southwest

Coalition for Life is a group from Texas that brings Texans to New Mexico to protest against a woman’s fundamental rights to make her own personal decisions about pregnancy, contraception and abortions. On this past Saturday they held a rally to protest the new women’s health clinic being built off of Lohman. I was dismayed to see the Mayor listed as a featured speaker. I feel that to speak at such an event titled as Mayor lends the impression that the city is against the opening of the women’s health clinic. With health care already in a precarious state in New Mexico, why would you fight against a new clinic? Are you against health care for women or just part of the patriarchy that wants forced births? Mayor, I support your right to practice any religion you choose, however, I feel strongly about the separation of church and state. Using your position as leader of Las Cruces and speaking at religious rallies is a misuse of authority. Had I known this was your position of denying medical care to women, of denying women the right to make decisions about their own body I would have never voted for you. Many women of Las Cruces and I are so disappointed in your position and your actions. We thought we were electing a man who supported all of his constituents. Instead, we have someone who uses his position to push his religious views on all of us. In your speech at the event you stated, “I choose life.”

Well so do I. I choose the lives of women. If you don’t like abortion don’t get one.

Regardless of what you think your God wants, you do not have the right to tell half of your constituents what they can and can’t do with their bodies. Tell your Texas friends they are not welcome here. Women in Las Cruces do not need men from Texas coming here and trying to restrict our rights. In fact, we don’t need any man to tell us how to live our lives. Do better.

Jim Hoerst, Member of the Public said Mr. Mayor, arise today to call for your resignation. Last Saturday you spoke at a rally sponsored by the Southwest Coalition for Life. One of the objectives of the event was to stop the construction of the women’s health center, commonly referred to as the abortion clinic. Given that the right to an abortion is guaranteed in New Mexico law, affirmed by New Mexico Courts and aligned with the clear majority of New Mexican voters, that is a very difficult task.

Because there is no democratic path to accomplish that goal, the so called right to lifers want to use an economic boycott against all contractors and suppliers providing services to halt construction at the women’s health center. Mr. Mayor, your participation in an event sponsored by boycott organizers has signaled your support for the boycott. Mr. Mayor, I recognize your right to your beliefs about abortion. You have as much right to your opinion and the expression of those opinions as I do mine.

What you don’t have a right to do, Mr. Mayor, is to use city resources to leverage your opinions. That is what you have done, you should resign. Mr. Mayor, you have placed yourself in an impossible position. If you renounce your support for the boycott, you will be perceived as backing down on a right to life. If you don’t renounce your support for the boycott, you will have a conflict of interest in the awarding of any city contracts for construction services even though you may only have a minor role in awarding such contracts. Again, Mr. Mayor city resources and influence can only be used in the city’s interest. They cannot be used to advance your personal beliefs. That is why you should resign.

Leslie Woods, Member of the Public said the office of Mayor is not an easy one. The actions of the Mayor at the Southwest Coalition for Life rally was not acceptable though. Opinions and religious convictions are not the issue. Your use of the office of the Mayor is the issue. As you know or should know, the Southwest Coalition for Life is an organization economic boycott against contractors and suppliers for the women’s health center. The office of the Mayor should never be used in an economic boycott without the city council’s approval. The Mayor’s participation in the demonstration showed the support of the economic boycott. If there was ever a case of religious prosecution in our day this is it. If those who supported the women’s rights to choose were organized an economic boycott against the right to lifers, they would certainly cry religious prosecution. Yet the right to lifers are doing that very thing. You the Mayor also attempted to suppress the county demonstration against the so-called

Right to Life rally when you told counter protestors to be quiet. They had as much right to be there making noise as the right to lifers had to be where they were and making noise. Not only did the Mayor try to suppress them but you did so under the color of law by confronting the counter protestors while accompanied by three police officers. The public use of officials should not be engaged in the suppression of freedom of speech under the color of law.

Sierra Amnister, Member of the Public said at a lot of these meetings I have heard adults complain about the delinquent youth while only asking for harsher punishments and more police. This is an ask backed by fear not data. The Center Juvenile and

Criminal Justice says that this is about operational inefficiency not a lack of funding.

Incarceration rates per arrests are higher today then on the tough on crime 90’s even accounting for temporary Covid related reductions, 20-year analysis of California’s 51 major cities shows that increase law enforcement budgets and personnel correlate with worse clearance rates and more crime. In New Mexico specifically despite $380 million in state spending since 2021 to increase staffing crime rates have substantially fallen, we cannot justify spending money on a strategy that data proves 5 inefficient. I also heard at the last meeting a long list of all the roles officers have to play that they are being held to the highest standards, listing counselors and crisis intervention specialist. I think that was a really good point. Police who are spread thin have an increased likelihood of wrongful use of force incidents. Police officers should not be counselors. We should have counselors show up to situations that need a counselor.

Inefficiency causes erosion of public confidence in law enforcement’s ability to protect communities. If the police want to have a better relationship with their community, they need to ask the hard questions on what would actually make the community feel safer. Our youth are our responsibility. Juvenile crime does not just happen spontaneously. There are real intersectional issues that need to be addressed. I think that we should view cases of juvenile crime as a check engine light for us that something here isn’t working. Instead of funneling funds into a carceral system that will cancel our youth telling them that they are not wanted and that we will not explore real solutions to these problems we need to invest in actual solutions, and I hope that we continue to invest in actual solutions. More funding to police is not an actual solution. We need to reject the notion that more spending will equal more safety. I took the time to go to the meetings for GRT and GO Bonds, the ones with the stickers on the boards and I tried to go to as many of those as I can and so did other communities. I saw those boards, I saw the stickers on the boards and there are

pictures of the stickers of the boards and what the community members want and so it can be hard to know what the general population wants at like these meetings specifically because they are during work hours, it is really hard to make it to these meetings but like especially those and anytime we hear about big decisions being made people really try to turn up to have their voices heard. So, it can be a real slap in the face to see the narrowed down list of proposed projects for the funding and see what ended up on that versus what stickers showed. So please do not vote to funnel money towards expanding in any way a system that is statistically failing to solve crimes, reject the notion that more spending equals more safety. Let’s put funding to programs that support our youth and address the root causes of crime.

Spencer Taylor, Member of the Public said I am a former 15-year professor at New

Mexico State and a current Master of Social Work. I would also like to speak on our plans for the use of the GRT funds. First and foremost, you have to listen to what the community has said. You did the work and I appreciate that and I think we all appreciate that and go out and listen to what we said in terms of what we want done with that money and we said that we want community third spaces, we said that we want resources, better water. We did not say that we wanted extended spending on police training and if that is not enough for you I would like to speak on some of the data. I have done some extensive research on what impact spending on police training does for communities. Among them is one source that stood out to me was an article that was published by Jessica Constantine in the Journal for Cultural

Anthropology on a study which she states “I argue on scenarios instead, scenario training for officers translate fear through what I call officer safety time. The hegemonic temporal regime encourages police to ‘think threat first, read danger is a subjective mood, and inhabit a hetero masculine inhabitance of state power’. I argue that scenarios deploy temporality and hail police as simultaneously threatened and threatening and more broadly cultivate the temporal orders of state violence and police while immunizing them against substitutive reform”. If what we have asked for isn’t enough, if the data isn’t enough, we can ask have the police earned this spending or earned the spending that is being considered? I will say that personally as someone who is politically left leaning, a lot of us who are politically left leaning have had reason to be afraid of our law enforcement in this community over the past few years. First of all, I witnessed some of students including some of my former students at peaceful demonstration at New Mexico State University have police officers from LCPD throw them to the ground, on the concrete, I witnessed this. This is fact. I saw it with my own two eyes, five feet away. We have had police officers pointing scope riffles at our community during left leaning protest, safe peaceful protest in front of the library. We have had our Police Chief attend politically aligned meetings and encourage the transfer of our citizens over to the federal government, which we know is a major threat to our citizens currently. So, I would like to ask you please, take the GRT money and use it for public resources.

Jeremy Armstrong, Member of the Public said I live in District 2. I initially came up here to speak about how we are going to spend the GRT money but before I do that I wanted to say thank you to the Mayor, the Police Chief and everybody else who comes up here and represents your community. I have seen many of you at events.

Some that I agree with, some that I don’t but at the end of the day you represent everybody in this community, not just people you agree with, so I appreciate you

showing up to all of those meetings. On to the money. Chief Story, Chief Daniels, I think you both are doing a fantastic job. I remember back when this GRT increase was proposed, it was proposed specifically to increase public safety and I think by dedicating the funds where they have been talked about, I think we are doing that.

You know I agree with a lot of these people. I love nice parks, I would love more things for our youth to do, I think that is great but I would urge you not to spend another dollar on a park until I can take my son to a park and not have to explain to him, don’t touch the foil, don’t touch the needles. Don’t mess with the guy that is asleep under the slide. We need to fix those problems before we worry about where we can send these people. Right now it is not safe for me to take my son to the park unless I drive thirty minutes out to where none of the vagrants will go hang out and sleep because they can’t get what they need out there but I appreciate you all for your time and I appreciate you all for everything that you are doing. I know a lot of people who feel the same way that I do, and they don’t have the opportunity to be here. They have kids, they have jobs, they have things going on. They couldn’t attend the Work

Sessions or the other events that you had because they have kids that are in sports, they have kids that are actually doing something productive and as much as they would like to be here they can’t so I am here to speak for them and I hope you all have a fantastic day.

Donna Stryker, Member of the Public said I am a member of the Citizens Academy right now, the Chief of Police has a program where citizens are randomly chosen if they apply. I have never learned so much about the law in my life. It makes really sad for our officers, how much they have to know. They practically have to be an attorney in order to be a police officer. I don’t agree with everybody and everything they say but I do agree with the fact that everybody gets to have an opinion. I think it is very disrespectful to take all of their feelings out on the Mayor, right, wrong or indifferent he represents the city of Las Cruces. Just like it is disrespectful if someone is ugly to any of our councilors or Chief of Police or our City Manager or our City Clerk or City

Attorney. We are adults. None of you has an easy job. Did you know when you signed up for it what kind of job this would be? Did you really understand how ugly and hateful and spiteful people could be? Probably not because you were thinking the best about humanity. I am going to continue to think the best about humanity and about our elected officials, whether I like them or don’t like them, agree with them or not.

Indira Casnor, Member of the Public said I am an NMSU student and I am here to support my fellow NMSU cohorts, staff and people to really come from a kind of different direction. I am a little bit more in the middle. I can sometimes be conservative in my views. So, I am a perfect example of how it is not necessarily always left leaning that has concerns about the GRT. So that was brought to my attention, and my key thing is optics are everything. That seems to be the buzz word in politics nowadays.

And despite any other topic and issues I think what is super clear here is that there was an opportunity for the community to speak out and express their desires of what they feel is important for the community and there was some added focus from I think it was the council that decided to allocate funding towards police or I think there was an extension of Elks or Del Rey, one of the large boulevards in our community and that initially was not voted upon by the members of the community as important. So, my key thing is really about explaining. Why did we make this decision as a council?

As a Mayor? To add these two items. I have military and police in my family so there isn’t really a me against them situation rhetoric. It really just boils down to clarity, complete clarity as far as why those funds were allocated to something that appears that the community didn’t vote for. So, I am maybe a small demographic of students that we just want to understand what the process is and why the council decided what they did because it appears that it is going against the people’s voice and choice and decision and that is really all. So, I appreciate civil service. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to all of you and I hope we can get some answers because if not then the mob starts to get created and the pitch forks start coming out and it could just be misunderstanding so that is what needs to be clarified here.

Fred Miller, Member of the Public said I would like to provide a counter to the comment just made by Lori English. Flag code is not law. Each individual citizen has the right to disrespect the flag, step on it, to spill food on it. What matters more is what that flag represents, my right to disrespect that flag is part of what that flag represents and when the flag itself matters more than what that flag is supposed to represent, I see that as idolatress. So, when she took somebody’s flag, I see that as simple theft. I don’t think she had a right to do that and I hope more people understand that. It is about principles and ideals and not about physical things. It is when we respect or disrespect the flag and what we really want to respect is the ideals rather than the piece of cloth itself.

Josh Sutton, Member of the Public said I have been living in this beautiful town since

February 10, 2021. I retired from the Air Force this year and about a year ago I opened a small retail and sport shop called Compa Skate Shop. I have been skateboarding for 25 years, and I have learned that the diverse collective of kids and adults who play with this stupid wooden toy are my people and I can count on them in every corner of the world to let me in and make me part of their family. When I drove here the literal first stop that I made was at the Las Cruces Skate Park. When I got there, it was 4 p.m. on a Wednesday and I found that there was a good mix of 20 kids, teens and adults all commuting together rolling around having fun, engaging in skating and also just hanging out. A few days later on a Friday I went down there and the park was literally at capacity with kids waiting outside to get in. People were there because it is free and accessible place for them to go practice their individual craft while hanging with friends, no coaches, no tee times, no mandates on team size, just an open well-lit safe space for kids, teens, and adults to exist and be. Since February of 2024, the 150 plus skateboarders in Las Cruces have been without our central meeting location to practice kick flips and show support and love to each other between attempts and to organize events like our now five times annual Christmas donation event and summer contests. What is happening at the park at 165 Walnut is tragic, but I applaud and appreciate the work Steve Bingham and his team at the

Parks Department is doing to hold Spohn Ranch accountable for the sub quality work they did in rebuilding that location. It is the right thing to do but in the meantime, we are without a home and have been for over two years. The skate park at Sonoma

Springs is wonderful and well-built, however it is not accessible to many of the at risk youth that would most benefit from it and it does not accommodate enough participants. At most the park can support 15 to 20 simultaneous users. I have been listening to these public input meetings for a few months and the thing I keep hearing is that juvenile crime is a big problem and heck yea it is. Let’s give these kids smore

free cool accessible things to do. Studies across the nation over the last five years show a direct correlation of access to skate parks and a reduction in juvenile crime.

As they say idle hands, and I guess in our case idle feet do the devil’s work. There are no less than 10 tennis courts, 25 basketball courts, 20 soccer fields in this city and only one skate park and only addresses 10% of the need that exist for the skaters in

Las Cruces. I have one ask which is a call to action, please in the coming fiscal year allocate about $2 million to build a large regional skate park for the city and then smaller skate parks across the districts that would be accessible to kids that don’t have the ability to commute to a large central location. The park at Sonoma Springs cost about $400,000 to build and it took about 120 days to do it. With $2 million we could create a large state of the art facility that could draw in tourism and support for types of events the old central park used to and create more parks across Las Cruces that are accessible free spaces for kids to congregate and stay out of trouble.

Stephanie Vargas, Member of the Public said I wasn’t planning on speaking. I was really here to show support to the skate kids. As some of you might know I am a former city employee with the Parks & Recreation but that is where my heart lies with the youth and them being able to be accessible to things that they can do and can afford. I see you guys listening to the public comments and I am going to be honest this is something I probably miss is hearing that the people can come up and speak to you guys and tell you guys what they are passionate about but I also feel like it is an opportunity for you to actually listen and not check your emails or your phones or your messages or the things that you are doing, taking notes. These people have some important things that they want to share but I do want to support skateboarding. I am not a kid that gets on the skateboard at all, but Compas Skate Shop has been really something that I have seen our youth tag along with these kids and these adults that are showing them all these cool tricks and stuff. I normally focus out in the county area and I am seeing how those small skate parks are being used and this is definitely where the city can jump in and help the youth out a little bit, so I just want to show support for the youth programing and what we need to do for the kids.

Bryce Sowerds, Member of the Public said I am a Las Cruces skateboarder and educator. I graduated from NMSU last year after completing a residency at Centennial

High School and while I have been seeking employment I have been working as a substitute teacher in the district every day and it has given me a ground level look at what kids are up to and what they would like to be doing and one thing I have noticed is that kids who are not involved in one of the main sports have very limited access to activities that challenge them and involve them in the community the same way that conventional sports do. Skateboarding is a great activity for this. However, kids need facilities that they can all meet up at in order to build their community and access to a skate park in Las Cruces as the situation is now is difficult. The old skate park has been closed for two years now as of tomorrow and some of the younger skaters that I know are able to go to skate in the new Sonoma location once a week if they can get a ride. When we first started advocating for a new skate park facility I was sixteen years old, and I remember skipping sixth and seventh period in order to come down here and deliver a statement. I am now 24 years old and graduated college and can now be teaching juniors in high school. With the original skate park remodel project still not being completed. It has been tough seeing how slow the progress and support has been from the city compared to other places in the region, but I am very grateful

that we have gotten the ball rolling since then and I look forward to seeing what can be done in the next fiscal year to support the skateboarders in Las Cruces.

Cass Ulibarri, Member of the Public said I am a student at NMSU. I am a junior. I was actually encouraged to come here by New Mexico Dream Team which I think is a little bit in the back over there. I am also a skateboarder and so this is a known proof that there is community here. I am a very active member of the community. I am at the library probably five times a week so the youth delinquency, we are at the library. I don’t know where the delinquency is but I skate to the library. I am active with the

NMSU school system and I try and advocate so if you see me around at protest, I am sorry in advance. I am very vocal. I am not very aware with everybody in the seats, but it is nice to speak with everybody, and it is good to see that the community is real people, and I love to see that everybody is here today. I would also like to mention that I noticed that the homeless population was brought up a few times, especially in regard to vagrancy and disruptions in the community and I would just like to say that those are real people. I know from experience with talking to them and asking them their name and taking them food. They are real people, thirty seconds of time is usually enough at a red light to stop and give them food, ask them how they are doing. Hi, I am sleeping under a bridge tonight, but you are the best part of my day so,

I don’t know I don’t really see them as vagrancy. I have personal experience, my girlfriend was homeless. She came from New York and she is out here. She now has a New Mexico library card which I am very proud of because I influenced that. We are all at the library so I would like to see the GRT to at least go to some community projects and I would love to see it go to the community and I don’t know, there is not a lot of teen vagrancy so I hope to see less cop action and more community based projects which would be so lovely and I am also with New Mexico Dream Team as well so if you see anything from us it is probably all of us but thank you so much for your time.

Christine Casillas, Member of the Public said I am the lead organizer for the Mesilla

Valley Balloon Rally. We started this a couple of years ago. Our conservative numbers for the first year were around 6,500 for the whole entire weekend. This past year we tripled our numbers. There was a lot of attendees, and we expect to continue to grow through this next year. We are going to be at capacity at Field of Dreams for this year. We are looking at how to mitigate a lot of the safety issues that were brought up not only by the Fire Marshall and also by spectators. We are going to see what we can do to safely accommodate everybody at Field of Dreams this year.

However, if we continue to experience the kind success that we have had with this, if the trend continues, we will need to find another place to hold this. Some of our plans for expansion include having more booths and vendors that address a lot of the problems that we see around town. There is a lot of great organizations out there that need a place to go out and say this is what we do. There is a lot in Las Cruces for kids to do. There are a lot of resources for people, and I would like to have this particular venue be a meeting place for those kinds of organizations. The other thing that we are planning on doing is including more schools for our Friday morning ascension so that way more kids who are not able to go to Albuquerque can see hot air balloons up close. There is so much that we are going to be doing and expanding this year. But I just wanted to let you know that I am very grateful to be a citizen in this wonderful, beautiful city. It is my hometown and I am very proud of it, so I wanted to say thank

you.

4. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor John Munoz, to accept the agenda as presented.

RESULT: Carried

MOVER: City Councilor Michael Harris

SECONDER: City Councilor John Munoz

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 City Councilor John Munoz

5. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 5.1 WORK SESSION OF FEBRUARY 9, 2026. 5.2 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 17, 2026.

6. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR CONSENT AGENDA 6.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-111: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF

LAS CRUCES TO PURCHASE A BRASSTRAX ACQUISITION STATION

AND PAG 800 STEREO ZOOM MICROSCOPE FROM LEADSONLINE, OF

PLANO, TEXAS FOR $269,189.26, PLUS APPLICABLE TAXES (PROCUREMENT NO. 25-26-091). 6.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-112: 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. 6.3 RESOLUTION NO. 26-113: A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE FY2026 - 2031

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

PROGRAM.

7. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR DISCUSSION 7.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-114: A RESOLUTION APPROVING GROSS

RECEIPTS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING FOR THE EL PASEO AND

SOUTH SOLANO METROPOLITAN REDEVELOPMENT AREA. Blairre Flores, Economic Development Coordinator gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Harris asked on a lot of those except for the Apodaca Lift Up area, every month was exactly the same, explain a bit why that was the case?

Blairre Flores said so again these are monthly averages that were collected. The data kind of aligns with the fact that we are not seeing economic growth month to month.

They are pretty much the same. Tax and Rev did remove some points of data to come up with those numbers so one-time project expenses that don’t truly show the

monthly baseline across a year. They also removed the highest month and lowest month again to come to a true median in what a baseline would look like.

Councilor Harris asked when we are talking about setting the other baselines for the non-adopted MRAs, is that to save time in the eventual MRA process like we are going to start collecting the baseline now? What is the goal of doing that ahead of time?

Blairre Flores said part of the reason why we are only allowed to set baselines for unadopted plans is because without an unadopted plan the only thing we can do per

MRA code is set the baseline. So again, we worked with Tax and Rev to collect that data over six months for all of them but also by setting the baseline now any growth that happens because of simply the awareness that it is an MRA that economic growth will be captured when we are able to begin the TIF. Also, the 20-year timeline of collection does not begin until we have submitted a resolution and an adopted plan to Tax and Rev.

Councilor Harris asked our 8 point whatever, GRT rate, the 75% of the increment is

75% of the absolute increase so the state is giving up some of share and the county is giving up a little bit of its share?

Blairre Flores said where we are right now is we are coming to the city to discuss our portion. This is kind of the first initial step so once we have this resolution, we provide this to New Mexico Tax and Rev they will start working on the city’s portion of the

GRT increments. Our next step will go to the County and begin working with them on the property taxes and then we will be requesting a portion of their GRT. The state just updated their requirements for requests for GRT. That is a little more complex.

We are going to determine how to attack that but yes in theory we can as well ask for up to 75% of the County and state’s GRT as well.

Councilor Corran said I don’t completely understand. So, if the revenue, I in my mind am assuming you don’t have to go down this path with me but I will get to a point at some point but in my mind the revenue steadily increases over time. The rate of increase might be varied but inflation, a myriad of things effects how we have take in

GRT but pretty consistently it goes up baring any terrible things happening. If we use a baseline of this point in time right now, are we at all disadvantaging ourselves like maybe it would be a little bit more the next year right? You know what I mean, if we used this year’s data instead, we are using the time period that you got from the Tax and Revenue folks which I understand also very suspicious of the fact that it is the same all the time. I would hope we don’t have to have, oh my God we are behind, oh my God we are ahead, it’s because we used an average. But is there any disadvantage to us seeing at this point in time we are basing these on this? The baseline could be higher next year. I would say the Mesquite one is the one that is most interesting to me and it is such a low amount which could be dramatically changed by some one economic change or one large business moving into the area and opening and creating new GRT revenue. Are we shorting ourselves in any way by setting the baseline now when in perhaps in a year that might be different or can you talk a little bit about what the timing of setting these baselines is as it relates to the

potential future income I guess is what I am asking?

Blairre Flores said one thing to consider is that each MRA is very different from the other so for example if we are just using Mesquite, that is a very different area in comparison to El Paseo. Number one, in size. Number two industry and the ratio of commercial versus residential. So, it is hard to compare apples to oranges in that sense and then also there is different industries in those areas. So, some create more revenue for GRT than others but in terms of setting the baseline I actually think that setting the baseline now before any additional economic development happens benefits the TIF and the city because right now it is stagnant so to speak where as we spread awareness there is opportunities to come in these areas which is very attractive for new development.

Councilor Corran asked we will be recouping hopefully up to the 75% going forward so the lower than perhaps what it will ever be in the future baseline doesn’t harm us?

Blairre Flores said correct.

Councilor Bencomo asked I am curious if the downtown TIDD, like in the years it has been established if the baseline was ever changed? Or once it is change it is that forever? And the reason I ask is because similarly I was wondering right like the hope is that in five or ten years that we are building so much new GRT activity that that could potentially change so I am curious about the downtown TIDD, it stayed the same the whole time?

Blairre Flores said I am not overseeing the TIDD. I know that Chris Faivre was a huge part of that and continues to be a huge part of that.

Elizabeth Teeters, Economic Development Director said I have actually talked to Tax and Rev about this and the potential of turning the TIDD into an MRA. Like switching

TIF out. Switching the TIDD to a TIF in the future and they said we can use the same baseline whenever that happens that is already established.

Councilor Bencomo asked did it ever change, the baseline that was established for the TIDD?

Chris Faivre, Community Development Director said no, the baseline was set I believe in 2006 or 07 and it has remained the since then.

Councilor Bencomo asked the TIDD is doing great, right? I mean I don’t necessarily think it has been a negative thing?

Chris Faivre said in recent years we have seen a real uptick in revenue, I don’t know that there has ever been discussions about readjusting that baseline but to this point no we haven’t.

Councilor Bencomo asked not because it is not allowed?

Chris Faivre said you can always go in and relook at that at any point in time and there were some discussions early on but ultimately there was never any real attempt to but we certainly probably could if we wanted to, sure.

Councilor Bencomo said FYI, I am not suggesting it I am just curious about seeing this today obviously I was not here with the TIDD. So, seeing this today I just had the same concern that Councilor Corran had and that is really not a concern is it just curiosity.

Councilor Munoz said on page 11, I am still trying to understand the flat line, maybe the one before. So, I think Councilor Harris might of eluded to this but explain to me again January 25,900 and then February on is 19,528. So that anomaly is that seasonality that is kind of why that is different?

Blairre Flores said so we spoke to New Mexico Tax and Rev and we actually looked at this area specifically because we are in the RFP process for this particular area so this will be our next area going into planning. Yes, they account for the holiday season for that. Again, they were pretty diligent in digging through the raw data. They did send the raw data to us. It was a lot of information, but we got to see the industry breakdowns of how these numbers came about and this area in particular they went through and there was some invoices that were paid for minor construction. They were like that is really going to affect the baseline when it was a onetime expense so they pulled that out but they did keep in January and that had a lot to do with the holidays in that particular area but then the remainder of the year pretty much looked about the same.

Councilor Harris said when we are taking our 75% of the increment, we are getting

75% of what is above the baseline in the future, and we are putting it into a special fund to do stuff in the MRA. So, I just want to be clear that it is to our advantage to have the baseline as low as possible and to not ever adjust it upward?

Blairre Flores said that is correct. City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Johana

Bencomo, to suspend the rules to suspend the rules to listen to items 7.1 through 7.6 concurrently.

MOVER: City Councilor John Munoz

SECONDER: City Councilor Johana Bencomo

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor Becky

Corran, to Approve Resolution No. 26-114.

SECONDER: City Councilor Becky Corran

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 7.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-115: A RESOLUTION APPROVING GROSS

RECEIPTS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING FOR THE WEST PICACHO AND

MOTEL BOULEVARD METROPOLITAN REDEVELOPMENT AREA. City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor John Munoz, to Approve Resolution No. 26-115.

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 7.3 RESOLUTION NO. 26-116: A RESOLUTION APPROVING GROSS

RECEIPTS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING FOR THE APODACA AND LIFT

UP METROPOLITAN REDEVELOPMENT AREA. City Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael

Harris, to Approve Resolution No. 26-116.

MOVER: City Councilor Becky Corran

SECONDER: City Councilor Michael Harris

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 7.4 RESOLUTION NO. 26-117: A RESOLUTION APPROVING GROSS

RECEIPTS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING FOR THE EAST OF SOLANO

NEIGHBORHOOD METROPOLITAN REDEVELOPMENT AREA. City Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by City Councilor John Munoz, to Approve Resolution No. 26-117.

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 7.5 RESOLUTION NO. 26-118: A RESOLUTION APPROVING GROSS

RECEIPTS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING FOR THE MESQUITE

METROPOLITAN REDEVELOPMENT AREA. City Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by City Councilor Johana

Bencomo, to Approve Resolution No. 26-118.

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 7.6 RESOLUTION NO. 26-119: A RESOLUTION APPROVING GROSS

RECEIPTS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING FOR THE AMADOR PROXIMO

AND SOUTH METROPOLITAN REDEVELOPMENT AREA. City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Johana

Bencomo, to Approve Resolution No. 26-119.

8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS 8.1 COUNCILOR MCCLURE REAPPOINTS SCOTT KAISER TO THE

PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION. 8.2 COUNCILOR HARRIS REAPPOINTS JANET ACOSTA TO THE PLANNING

AND ZONING COMMISSION. 8.3 COUNCILOR CORRAN REAPPOINTS KENT THURSTON TO THE

PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION. 8.4 COUNCILOR HARRIS REAPPOINTS JESSICA STREETER TO THE

LIBRARY BOARD.

8.5 MICHAEL MASUCCI City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor Becky

Corran, to appoint Michael Masucci to the Airport Board.

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 8.6 DAVID MOFFAT City Councilor Michael Harris moved, seconded by City Councilor Johana

Bencomo, to appoint David Moffat to the Airport Board.

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 8.7 PAUL NIELSEN City Councilor Johana Bencomo moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael

Harris, to appoint Paul Nielsen to the Airport Board.

MOVER: City Councilor Johana Bencomo

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 8.8 WESLEY BAKER City Councilor Johana Bencomo moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael

Harris, to reappoint Wesley Baker to the Airport Board.

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 8.9 KELLY BROOKS City Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael

Harris, to reappoint Kelly Brooks to the Transit Board.

Councilor Becky Corran, and City Councilor John Munoz 8.10 MICHELLE CARBAJAL City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Johana

Bencomo, to reappoint Michelle Carbajal to the Transit 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. 26-017; ORDINANCE NO. 3109: AN ORDINANCE

AMENDING CHAPTER 24, PROCUREMENT CODE, OF THE LAS CRUCES

MUNICIPAL CODE. Council agreed to bring it forward. 9.2 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-018; ORDINANCE NO. 3110: AN ORDINANCE

AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF THE CITY OF LAS

CRUCES, NEW MEXICO GROSS RECEIPTS TAX IMPROVEMENT

REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 2026 IN AN AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL

AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $22,150,000 FOR THE PURPOSE OF (1)

CONSTRUCTING, PURCHASING, FURNISHING, EQUIPPING,

REHABILITATING, MAKING ADDITIONS TO OR MAKING IMPROVEMENTS

TO PUBLIC FACILITIES; (2) CONSTRUCTING, RECONSTRUCTING,

RESURFACING, MAINTAINING, REPAIRING OR OTHERWISE IMPROVING

STREETS OR ROADWAYS AND CONSTRUCTING DRAINAGE

IMPROVEMENTS; (3) ACQUIRING AND EQUIPPING PUBLIC SAFETY

VEHICLES; (4) FUNDING THE RESERVE FUND FOR THE SERIES 2026

BONDS; AND (5) PAYING THE EXPENSES RELATED TO THE ISSUANCE

OF THE SERIES 2026 BONDS; PROVIDING THAT THE SERIES 2026

BONDS WILL BE PAYABLE AND COLLECTIBLE FROM THE REVENUES

DERIVED FROM (1) A FIRST LIEN, BUT NOT AN EXCLUSIVE FIRST LIEN,

ON THE 0.3250% MUNICIPAL GROSS RECEIPTS TAX IMPOSED

PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE NO. 3072 AND (2) A SUBORDINATE LIEN,

BUT NOT AN EXCLUSIVE SUBORDINATE LIEN, ON THE 0.50%

MUNICIPAL GROSS RECEIPTS TAX REVENUES IMPOSED PURSUANT

TO ORDINANCE NOS. 385 AND 427; DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO THE

CITY MANAGER AND CITY FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR TO

EXECUTE AND DELIVER A PRICING CERTIFICATE AND BOND

PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR THE SALE OF THE SERIES 2026 BONDS

TO THE PURCHASER. Council agreed to bring it forward.

10. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BOARD REPORTS AND COMMENT 10.1 COUNCILOR MCCLURE I agreed with I believe it was Ms. Casnor who talked about the education process that we should be doing as council. I feel somewhat remiss about it myself but I think that during the budget process and given that it wasn’t filmed, you can listen to it if I remember correctly there was a really good one on CIP on how many ongoing projects we had and I don’t think the public in general knows that we are still working and finding funding for a lot of projects that have been going on for a while. Since some of us even got here. So, when the public wonders, how do we make the decisions on what we choose to give funding for? A lot of it is kind of outside our control because those things have already been going on. Some of them are Utilities’ projects. I am hoping that some were struck by the fact that less than a mile of road was $6.1 million. So, a lot of those things when we think about what that looks like I am wondering if we can get her to give that presentation in here and I also want to say that the department updates are really helpful. I appreciate that a lot too.

The other thing that I want to talk about is Councilor Bencomo and I had a really good meeting with CYFD and our YDD program at the city, the Youth Development and

Diversion Program. And CYFD kind of maintains the monies for the continuum,

Juvenile Justice Continuum. There is $83,000 for the possibility for a gun and violence program and initiative. So, we kind of, Councilor Bencomo and I kind of investigated what that looked like in Bernalillo and it might need to be something different for Las

Cruces. So how do we do that? Kind of like the way we have to do that with road. I know it sounds terrible, but we have to do a study. We have to do a needs assessment for that here in Las Cruces but more importantly we have to get the youth involved. They are here, they are showing up but we actually need to hear what this looks like. I was encouraged by one of the gentlemen who said I am a substitute teacher and I am hearing things that I never thought and how can we involve them in

this. What I would like to see is if other councilors be interested in not only matching but seeing if we can get $100,000 to make a good healthy needs assessment for this program so that programing is something that works, something that is realistic, how it influences young people’s lives but also realities of being around guns. Gun safety, how can we involve LCPD in that way? How can we involve other stakeholders but stakeholders always feels very empty. It has to be the youth. So, I am just going to challenge my other councilors to say would you be interested in supporting that? That we can be able to do this through the continuum and make some change happen.

10.2 COUNCILOR MATTIACE I just needed some assistance or help from maybe Chief Story or Animal Codes. In the Frank O’Papen area, that is where the District 2, Kathe Stark mentioned that almost 40 cats have been terminated. So, I would like to see if there is a possibility we could have camera surveillance put into that area? Maybe increase patrols. See if we can catch, I hate to use the word cat killer, sounds crazy but that is quite a lot of animals that have been abused in that area so is there any help that you can offer?

On the support for what Cassie brought up on gun safety. I would definitely support something like that and thank you for bringing that up Ms. McClure and Councilor

Bencomo 10.3 COUNCILOR HARRIS One, I would like to thank the state legislature and the Governor for passing and signing SB40. I think once again Las Cruces has served as a model of our policy around data collection and the state has taken that up and largely made what Chief

Story and Las Cruces has already made in our policies into state law. I am still concerned about specific systems that we run and how much we can trust them to actually abide by those policies and how much control we have to force that. So, I think that is an ongoing conversation.

I am personally highly in support of new medical services, and I am glad to see

Ocotillo finally starting to get off the ground with construction. I know that was a big push from the state. We got a lot of money allocated to it and I am happy to see it getting off the ground even though it is right next to District 3 and badly needed services.

Also, we went on a tour with Mayor Pro Tem Munoz of the Amador, to see that restoration project. It was very interesting to see all the history there and get that presentation. I am glad that that organization is chasing all of the grant funding that they can get and it will be exciting to see it get completed

I would also like to echo my support for gun violence prevention program, and I think that is excellent and much needed. It would be great to see the presentation on our

CIP projects kind of in a more public format and maybe formatted and presented a little more for public consumption. We saw it very good and I think that is a; great education piece that we can see. The department updates have also been excellent. I like that new format to the meeting.

10.4 COUNCILOR BENCOMO March 31st is our District 4 meeting at 6 p.m. at MacArthur. I really wanted to thank our Constituent Services team, Scott and Catrina, for helping me set this all up. So just to reiterate, March 31st, District 4 Community Meeting at MacArthur Elementary

Community School at 6 p.m. We will have different departments there, obviously I will be there, but you folks can come and ask questions and have a conversation with myself and any of us that will be there.

Thank you, Councilor McClure, for starting us off on $100,000 ask for the gun violence intervention program. I think as a city if because we are talking a lot about juvenile crime and youth involved crime that we really have to also have a strong commitment to what it looks like to provide alternatives to detention, evidence based programing and frankly if you, colleagues if you haven’t visited Youth Diversion

Program, please go visit them. They are doing magic over there with their limited resources, and I know that they can’t do it all and that is why this ask is really to supplement their work. I think they would be incredible leaders in helping to create what this design and exploration model can look like if we get this passed in the budget but they are doing incredible work and I am really excited to be working with

Councilor McClure and all the folks that we have been in conversation with about this so thanks everyone for naming their support for that and I certainly hope to see that in our budget as we move forward.

I wanted to bring up some concerns that from the Las Cruces Utility Board to this council and certainly to our City Manager. At our last meeting last week, we had some conversations regarding a couple of things that we want to bring concerns to you all about. We know that there has been a cost allocation audit conducted between the

Las Cruces Utility, which is an enterprise fund that lives outside of the general fund budget which is another in terms of education is a really important piece to educate the public but some staff as well. I think staff in the city, finance staff about how Las

Cruces Utility operates and I think just having a more clear understanding about the challenges and barriers and we are a partnership, public utilities should be protected at all cost and so we should really be a partner. The cost allocation in the past that

Las Cruces Utilities has provided back to the GRT has been about $5 million already so we want to make sure that we are having fair negotiations if you will about that will continue looking forward. I raised the concern that council a couple of weeks ago voted to reduce the funding in the Griggs-Walnut Grand Water Plume Superfund. The rest of Las Cruces Utility Board expressed similar concern that funding was cut in half and the importance of that being fully funded is imperative to the public health of our community so I wanted to make sure that staff, City Manager and council that we are all looking at the possible implications of that and perhaps revisiting them. I had also raised concerns about the Utilities being asked like many other departments were asked to budget up to FY25, the Las Cruces Utilities can’t do that. Las Cruces Utilities has to budget to capacity to be able to provide services to our customers and to ensure that we have a well-functioning utility. I just wanted to make sure again to the

City Manager and staff that there is just a full comprehensive understanding of how the Utility works and why we must continue to protect our public utility. Those are just a couple of things that I wanted to share from the Utilities Board last week.

I wanted to mention publicly that Dennis Knox from MMC emailed everyone on City

Council and the County Commission asking for individual meetings. I responded and included Mayor Enriquez, I included our City Manager, I included the County Manager and the Chair of the County Commission in my response that I think this request is actually incredibly inappropriate and should not be happening. Obviously, you can do what you wish but I do think it is incredibly inappropriate for MMC leadership, Life

Point leadership to be meeting individually with members of the governing body and doing individual negotiations. I do not think it is appropriate and my ask would continue to be that MMC and Life Point leaders come to a public meeting and give us all the same information at the same time. So that is just something I wanted to note here today because I believe strongly that that is an inappropriate ask from MMC to meet with individual members of the governing bodies.

My last thing since it is the last public meeting where I can share council comments before Women’s History Month ends, I am sure many of you know this but I promise I have a point and the last 100 years these are some of the things women have won. In

1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified giving white women the right to vote nationwide. In 1963, the Equal Pay Act made it illegal to pay women less than men for the same work, but we of course know that continues to happen. In 1964, black women especially were vital to the passing of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1965, the

Voting Rights Act gave people, of color women of color the right to vote. In 1973, Roe v. Wade recognized the constitutional protection for abortion rights. In 1974, Equal

Credit Opportunity Act allowed women the right to obtain credit and loans without a male co-signer. In 1994, the Violence Against Women’s Act was adopted, federal legislation addressing violence against women. Skipping forward to 2018, a record number of women are finally elected to Congress. In 2021, Las Cruces elects an all- women City Council. In 2024, New Mexico becomes only the second state with the majority women legislature in the country. Women hold majority in both chambers with a strong representation of women of color making it one of the most diverse in the country. Yet in 2026, I have less right than my mother and my stepdaughter is about to have even less rights than I did. Major gains for women over the past century like voting rights, reproductive autonomy, workplace protections and educational quality are currently being challenged by legislation, court rulings or policy proposals. The proposed Save Act is set to re-write voting right protections as we know them. One major provision will disproportionally affect married women whose names have changed because their current name may not match their birth certificate. Roe was overturned in 2022, 21 states have subsequently enacted bans placing political control over women’s bodies. A roll back in Title 9 protections of how sexual harassment is handled on college campuses and there is now legal challenges to pregnancy accommodations. So, to repeat the current political landscape is seeing a wave of policy battles disproportionally impacting women and parents all the while for over four decades more women than men are voting in elections nationwide, wages have remained stagnant, even worse for black and indigenous and Latina women.

Childcare is more expensive than ever, violence against trans women is on the rise, rape kit testing backlog is more than 600 in New Mexico alone estimated 1,400 rape kits have passed the 180-day testing target required by law. Maternal mortality rates in the United States are shamefully high with one of the highest mortality rates among wealthy nations. New Mexico has even more alarmingly high rates. Higher than the

US average, 80% of maternal deaths are considered preventable in New Mexico with

indigenous and black women facing higher risks. There are maternal and parenting care deserts all across New Mexico. So, this all made me think about that great quote, if you are not outraged then you are not paying attention. Enter the Ocotillo Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Center right here in Las Cruces, an innovative comprehensive reproductive health care center serving Southern New Mexico, working to increase access to quality health care in our region. I am proud to support the Ocotillo Center because frankly we deserve that kind of care and I am really grateful for the coalition of organizations that made it happen in a time where the wellbeing, the political power and the health of women is being threatened across the country I would hope our colleagues, our husbands, our partners, our friends, our allies would be as outraged as we are. Regardless though we will keep fighting as our mothers did and their mothers before them. 10.5 COUNCILOR CORRAN That was fire Councilor Bencomo. I second both her outrage and her ongoing and perpetual support for women’s rights and trans and binary folks’ rights. I admire you wildly. I also support Councilor McClure and Councilor Bencomo’s efforts to think about youth and gun violence. I have heard from constituents that they are worried about their grandchildren in a lot of cases, children and neighbors who are sort of in this environment in a new world of communication, access to guns and a number of things that are sort of they are struggling through in our community. So, I support that effort that you all are taking in. I am going to quickly pivot to gratitude to city staff who helped put on our community meeting last week related to traffic safety. It was really well attended. I think only about half of the people are people that I knew personally and the other half are people that came as a result of Catrina Godinez and Scott

Rogers excellent work enduring community outreach for this meeting and organizing a group of city staff and other staff, Andrew Wray, Katrina Proveghi from the

Metropolitan Planning Organization, who presented really interesting data about the most dangerous intersections and dangerous places in District 5, very powerful information to share with folks, Lt. Austin from LCPD who shared some of the new things that the force is doing to address traffic safety and community. Jimmy Moreno and Vanessa Morales-Romero from Public Works who talked a lot about ways that we are thinking from an engineering perspective and Chris Faivre who is really talking about community development and the ways that we are moving forward and thinking about how our community continues to grow and so those staff put it out there in the evening last week and I really just want to express my gratitude and being really impressed and proud to work within the city and folks who really bring their A-game and care about community and what the community is thinking about. So, thank you to everyone who worked on that and those of you who organized it and the folks who attended it and great inputs and participation. I will let Councilor Bencomo’s good words carry for the rest of the day.

10.6 COUNCILOR MUNOZ I wanted to take this time to thank Chris and the Community Development team for the tour and support we had this last week. I appreciate the process improvements and the hard work that you and your team are providing to the citizens of Las Cruces.

So, thank you. I also wanted to thank, Councilor Harris and I attended the Amador

Hotel. A lot of history there and it is very important I think, iconic piece of Las Cruces.

I know that there was heavy lifting when the pyramids of Mexico and Central and

South America, when the Coliseum in Italy was being restored, there is heavy lifting.

That is part of history, and I hope that we encourage the Amador team and encourage our city employees to also help out as much as we can so that 100 years from now,

300 years from now, generations understand from where we came and how Las

Cruces came to be. The story of Martin M Amador is very interesting.

I also wanted to thank the city staff for their hard work in putting together letters and proposals for federal funding. Those are resources that our city needs, and I wanted to thank the city team for doing that as well.

10.7 MAYOR ENRIQUEZ Last week I was in Washington DC, so I got a chance to meet with Senator Heinrich,

Senator Lujan, good conversations/dialogue about things that we can do in Southern

New Mexico and also requesting and looking for funding for our Young Park, septic tank removal, mobile cameras for police and the rehabilitation and remodeling of Fire

Station 1. Those were some of the items that were on our list of priorities to get funded, and we had some good discussions and dialogue with them.

I do want to answer on Saturday’s event. It was a March For Life event that took place and I was invited to that. No different than I was invited to Career Day at Columbia

Elementary and other things that I get invited to. I am not going to deny my faith or belief and my script has not changed. I am for public safety, economic development and quality of life. So yes, I choose life. But the issue and the reason I was there was to update and share with them the incident that we had at Burn Lake where an infant was born and Fire recovered from the porta potty and what are we doing now and how are we doing moving forward? And one of the things that we have done and it is state funded is a Safe Haven Baby Box that will be located in Fire Station 1 and hopefully we will get in latter June or July. And that Safe Haven Box is one that if somebody does have a child or has a baby and does not want to keep it they can surrender it legally to the hospital, the Fire Department, to law enforcement but this baby box is a safe haven. There is no blame, there is no shame and there is no names. So, it is just a way of what we are doing in the city and that is what I shared with that group, and I was invited to speak at that event.

The other thing that I want to say on gun violence and the youth, I am all in support of that as well, as March 21st will be our year since the Young Park shooting, where it was detrimental and tragic to our community. One of the things though I want to congratulate is our Las Cruces Public Schools for getting $3 million and thank the

Governor for allocating $3 million for the CTE Program. That is the Career Technical

Education Program that if education isn’t for everyone there is vocation, but we need our kids to go to school. We need to protect them from violence and things of that nature and also Councilor McClure, thank you I am on board with that and anything that we can do for our community and we will continue.

11. CITY MANAGER REPORT 11.1 IKANI TAUMOEPEAU I just want to make the announcements that our Police Department completed our

onsite CALEA assessment, which stands for Commission Accredited Law

Enforcement Agencies assessment. This is a gold standard in the nation. About 4 to

5% police agencies accredited and this is something that is a high honor to have so I just wanted to share. It pushes everything that you would expect from a police department. The last step before receiving our accreditation is to appear before the

CALEA Commissioners in July and answer questions during an oral assessment. This process has been underway for over three years, and we are very close to achieving our accreditation goal and I just wanted to give kudos to our team working on this accreditation and to Chief Story and the crew. Thank you for your hard work on that and we will keep you posted. We will keep you posted and let you know how this assessment finalizes and gets going.

12. ADJOURNMENT 12.1 City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael Harris, to adjourn at 3:30 p.m.

Mayor

City Clerk