City Council Meeting February 17, 2026

MINUTES

City Council

Tuesday, February 17, 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, and City Councilor John Munoz

ABSENT: City Councilor Johana Bencomo and City Councilor Becky Corran

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

APPRECIATION/PROCLAMATIONS - COUNCILOR HARRIS. Councilor Harris presented David Franco, Emmett Rivera, and Fernando Vasquez with a proclamation for National Engineers Week.

Councilor Harris presented Joanne Turnbull with a proclamation for Support our

Healthcare Providers Week.

Councilor Harris presented Savannah Montoya with a proclamation for Pioneer Bank

Day.

Councilor Harris presented the CLC Communications Office with a proclamation for

Government Communications Day.

Carl Clark, Assistant Utilities Director gave a presentation on the CCR.

Mayor Enriquez asked can you specify what the CCR is?

Carl Clark said yes, Consumer Confidence Report, EPA requirement.

Councilor Mattiace said in some of these homes that have been highlighted and we have had some questions about different homes having the galvanized, the old pipes.

Has their water been individually tested? I know they are private homes, but have they been tested by your department where it is mentioned, those specific homes?

Carl Clark said I can’t state which ones you are talking about. I am not sure what address it is but when we do the sampling it is from the home so that sample is then sent to the state lab and then they test it. So, to say have we have done every home that we are talking about I am not sure what homes you are talking about, what the address is so I couldn’t tell you and even if you spouted off an address I would have to go back to records to see.

Councilor Mattiace said the reason I bring this up is because of some of the comments and I have had some residents be concerned with of course the quality of the water and so if I give you a specific addresses can you do that for me? You could sample those?

Carl Clark said if you gave me the addresses we can look into that and see if that one has been specifically sampled. We have sampled so many throughout the city, the different zones or the different water systems we have. I believe we have five, so we have to pull water samples out of every five and there is just random samples inside that in each one.

Councilor Mattiace asked as far as specific addresses you would do that?

Carl Clark said we would have to go back and look at the records as to where they were pulled from. Also, the CCR, Consumer Confidence Report got started about 26 years ago. We have been meeting our requirements ever since then. We haven’t had any actionable limits that I know about, and I have been with the city since 2003. 1.3 JOBS OF THE WEEK. Sarah Raney, Americas Job Centers of New Mexico presented Jobs of the Week. 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 Lynn Moorer, Member of the Public said I have new analysis related to the city’s non- compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule and its failure to carry out its promises when applying for $15 million in funding. As you recall the amount of funding to be repaid relates to how disadvantaged the population is. The census tracked information the city uses to determine whether your neighborhood is disadvantaged is

flawed. I will illustrate this regarding two neighborhoods with which I am familiar. The city has designated Cedardale Loop not far from where I live on Mondale Loop as disadvantaged. Cedardale has higher property valuations than Mondale yet

Cedardale was disadvantaged and Mondale isn’t. Cedardale has 54 properties on it,

42 have an estimated value of $300,000 or higher as Handout 1 indicates the median estimated value for all properties on Cedardale is $326,000. By contrast Mondale has

41 properties on it, only 2 have been estimated value of $300,000 or higher, see

Handout 2. The median estimated value for all properties on Mondale is $276,000, $50,000 lower than Cedardale. Setting aside whether an 80% cutoff for the area median income the city uses is appropriate which is actually in supportable, the data are in accurate. The maps are not trustworthy. It is obvious that the median income for the folks living on Cedardale is manifestly higher than the median income for the folks living on Mondale. Nevertheless, Cedardale is classified as disadvantaged while

Mondale isn’t. A house two doors away from mine on Mondale Loop was until recently used as temporary Section 8 housing for low-income people, thus our lovely Mondale

Loop neighborhood is unwealthy enough to be selected for such a house but we are not categorized as disadvantaged nor should we be. I will say it again, Mondale should not be designated disadvantaged more importantly neither should Cedardale with it’s $50,000 higher median house valuation. When walking around Cedardale with my dog in addition to admiring their nice houses and yards we see the vehicles parked in their driveways. My dog would especially like to admire some of those vehicles up close. We have seen two or three Teslas, a couple of Lexus cars and a

Porsch. All of these folks on Cedardale are likely good people. I know a couple of them. In no sense though are they disadvantaged. The point is that the census tracks the city is relying upon are inaccurate and filled with obvious errors. This means the city must rectify its analysis and give a more discerning look at the properties of each neighborhood before pronouncing any of them disadvantaged. The disparities between Cedardale and Mondale Loop are relatively small compared to many other neighborhoods that can be found. We will delineate some of those injustices for you at future meetings.

Liz Rodriguez-Johnson, Member of the Public said it continues to be extremely disappointing that Las Cruces Utilities is failing to comply with the federal Lead and

Copper Rule which requires that disadvantaged neighborhoods be prioritized for pipe inspection and lead pipe removal if lead is found. Today we continue our efforts to stand up for the disadvantaged in our community, the ones that genuinely struggle and need help. We are endeavoring to help Las Cruces Utilities focus and actually inspect first the genuinely disadvantaged folks whose property’s valuations are on the lowest end of the scale here in the city. Research indicates that property valuations should be considered when determining whether a neighborhood is disadvantaged. I don’t think anyone can make a straight-faced argument that someone owning and living in a $300,000 house is disadvantaged. We are sharing our research to assist the city to do the right thing. Las Cruces Utilities should work on the following, first remove from the disadvantaged list all properties with high estimated valuations on the street. We have recently described that there are plainly not actually disadvantaged and whose designations are clearly based on incorrect data. Silverado

Loop, Cortabella, and Cedardale Loop. There are many more high value properties that should also have no place on the disadvantaged list, but these three streets are a good place to start. Second, for the time being conduct inspections and investigations

of only a genuinely disadvantaged properties absent and overrising reasons. Handout

A is comprised of 10 properties with valuation estimates of less than $100,000.

Handout B is a partial list of properties that estimated valuations of less than $200,000 organized by street. It has 42 properties listed which matches the number of inspections Utilities personnel conducted the first week of November 2025. We are passing these along to the Utilities Department so that we can get to work right away to help the truly disadvantaged. Third, at long last including the inventory and on the map all of the properties that have been left out starting with the mobile home communities that show no water hookups whatsoever on the map. Handout C is one example. These are probably the most disadvantaged properties in all of Las Cruces which Las Cruces Utilities has steadfastly ignored. Credibility is completely absent if the disadvantaged list does not include those mobile home properties while at the same time including properties valued at $300,000 and higher.

Israel Chavez, Member of the Public said I really never enjoy coming here because I always feel like it is to tell you on the things that I feel like you are doing wrong. I wish it was less things that you were doing wrong. I want to make sure that you know that

Colonias Development Council versus Rhino Environmental Services is a Supreme

Court Case in which the government was required to take public comment. Now again the city went around town and solicited public comment of members of the public and

I showed up to that and the city seems to have decided that it is going to completely ignore that public comment. It is going to do an entirely new list of things it decided to do with the money that is basically stolen from the public in the increase of gross receipts. The proposed training center that you all want to do didn’t even make the top ten and all of the things that the public came out and asked for is not being prioritized.

The city has to prioritize those things. So I am coming to request you do that but I am also coming to warn you that if you don’t that I have nothing better to do than to make your lives very difficult legally and I am sure I can find members of the public who will speak later who would like to hold the city accountable for not recognizing the public input that was put into those sessions. So just to take a little bit from that case that when New Mexico Governments when they are required to take public comments should closely consider that information and I quote from the case “Relating to the community’s quality of life”. That is what you ask for in your public comment. That is directly from the Rhino Services case. The community should always be afforded reasonable opportunity to provide its input in projects and what was required in the

Rhino Environmental Services case, “that the community be given voice and the concerns of the community be considered in the final decision making”. It appears to me that the city has decided to bypass the final decision making. It is required to take that public comment and if it does not than there will be consequences and accountability because it appears to me that the legislative branch of this government is unwilling to hold accountable in my view feckless and somewhat useless executive branch of the city and if the council won’t do it, the council won’t hold its executive branch to account, either it is unable or it is unwilling then the public will, we have the means. Just because your third branch of government is a Municipal Court that you sort of shunt it off to upstairs doesn’t mean that we can’t use District Court and it would be my view that if the city continues to ignore the public and the public will take those actions needed.

Mary Ann Hendrickson, Member of the Public said I am a citizen of District 3. Almost

exactly 20 years ago I moved here following 26 years of service in the United States

Navy. Almost instantly I was embraced by my community. My neighbors brought me cookies, food, anything I needed, helped me with information. I was wrapped in

Carino from the first day I walked here. However, I was surprised to recently learn that in early November of 2024, the City Manager signed direction for a new public facing equal opportunity statement that added TTY, which I think is great but yet it removed public mention of the following protected classes: color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. I have communicated with the HR

Department for almost a month and never have gotten an answer as to why the city removed those groups of protected classes and yet not others. What criteria was used to select those? So, with the change in statement the city has negated the contributions of me, my family members, friends, neighbors, probably the majority of the city. What I am asking from the city is fairly simple and easy to do. I am asking the

Mayor and Council to direct the City Manager to restore the previously listed protected classes and keep the TTY statement. Let’s restore the much-needed Carino to our city.

Donna Stryker, Member of the Public said the GRT was discussed at length. I was at most of those meetings. I also went to the meetings that the city held throughout the city, and I saw a lot of interesting things that happened there. I saw a lot of people that were not from those districts, and they went to every single meeting and in my humble opinion and that was to sway as the previous gentleman stated as public input. The

GRT discussed at council, the GRT discussed at Work Sessions last year, what was that money to be used for? There was not one time that there was one single recipient. It was several different recipients. The Chief did a very good job of addressing and presenting on an academy that would not only benefit this city but would also benefit other agencies, law enforcement agencies and also help attract candidates. I don’t remember hearing or seeing and watching in council and especially Work Sessions of a week ago that all the money was going to go to one place. Perhaps I am blind, deaf, and dumb but I did not see that. I apologize if I missed it somehow. I would like to ask the council to continue considering recipients for the GRT. One of which I would like to see an academy. I think that our community deserves it. I think candidates deserve it and if any of you have actually seen what the academy looked like you would probably not let your dog live there. I would also like to address something that has been weighing heavy on my mind. I am 70 years old and I have never come to council and sworn, or clicked my fingers, or snapped or been disrespectful, degrading, threatening, or slanderous towards anyone. I have also never had disruptive remarks, or gestures or noises from myself or the people that I am working with. We tend to act like adults, and I remember hearing one person saying well if the President can swear. What are you 12? Do you really need to act inappropriately because someone else did? This isn’t high school. These are adults, these are professionals and these are politicians and I expect and I deserve to be treated kindly and respectfully by the audience as much as my council. People deserve and should expect to be treated appropriately. I am really glad I am not hearing any clicking or snapping because it only indicates your lack of intelligence as does swearing because you have nothing better to say than bad words.

Jose Carrera, Member of the Public said I am the President of Precision Technology. I moved to Las Cruces about 30 years ago. I came to visit a friend. I fell in love with this

town, so I decided to start my business here. I started this business inside a friend’s garage. The business I am in, I supply products to the automotive industry, and I export 100% of what I manufacture all over the world. I employ between 30 and 50 employees. In the past 25 years I have sold over $75 million worth of product. In the past 25 years I have generated over $40 million worth of payroll which of course everybody benefits of that especially because this is money that is coming from outside the country. I have never taken any special program where I am being financially assisted. None of that. So, this is strictly money that is from outside the country coming back to the country. I have been involved with NMSU helping programs working with them, hired engineers from NMSU. I have been recognized by you guys as a very important manufacturing facility. The reason I am speaking is because I have heard some very negative comments about our police force, specifically about Chief of the Police Story. It really bothers me because out of the 50 employees that I have basically it has a repercussion of 200 to 250 people. So, anything in this town that happens I get affected by it by a multiplication of 250 times.

It is not like some people who complain and turns out that they just have a problem with Chief of Police or something insignificant like that. To me what our first responders do is with that many amount of employees I have problems. I have situations where I need them. Every single time that I have called for police officers to come in they come in they show up instantly and they are only assisting me. We need to appreciate what they do for us 100%.

Elaine Pricket, Member of the Public said I am with Rio Grande Honor Flight, and I wanted to come and share with the council today some of what we do. We are a

501(3) non-profit organization, and I know Councilman Mattiace is familiar with us,

Chief Daniels is familiar with what we do and Mayor Enriquez. Honor Flight is an organization that takes World War II, Korean, and Vietnam Veterans to Washington

DC to see the memorials that were built in their honor. Many of these Veterans will not have the opportunity due to financial and physical needs. That is not our goal is to give them a tour. Our goal is to bring them closure and healing. One of the Vets after being on this trip told me that I feel like I am part of American society again and in

America we should never have a Veteran feel that way and so that is our goal to try to change that. Many of our Veterans find closure and healing on this trip and many of them have had their Honor Flight Mission engraved on the columbarium because it meant so much to them. Families have said that they are changed and we are changing families as well when we take them on this trip. Some of the things that we need help with is sustaining financial support and we also need help with volunteers.

All of our Veterans that are taken to Washington DC have a guardian. Guardians pay their own way of $1,200 and so does the crew. We pay our own way. The Veteran goes absolutely free on this three-day trip to Washington. The guardian is there to push the wheelchair, carry their oxygen concentrator, help them in any way that they need. If they need help in the room, getting to the bathroom, we find guardians that are willing to do that. That is part of our mission, to take care of them. One of the big things that we are trying to do and it has been a goal of mine that I have a dream of is having a welcome home for our Veterans. Many of our Veterans never got the welcome home they deserved. They were spit on, had feces balloons thrown at them and were urinated on. That is not the way our warriors should be treated. We would like Honor Flight in Las Cruces to become a household name, that every year everyone is saying, when is the Honor Flight going out and when are we going to line

the streets and welcome them home? One Veteran said, Elaine, all I ever wanted to hear was those two little words, welcome home. So, what I am asking for today is an opportunity to come back and do a formal presentation to this group so that we can determine how the City of Las Cruces may be able to help bring these Veterans home. One Veteran the night of the banquet came up to me in tears, he said I feel like a Mack Truck has been lifted from my chest and I can finally breathe again. I have not been able to breath since I came home from Vietnam.

Perry Ashby, Member of the Public said I was with the United States Air Force, retired. I am one of those Veterans she was talking about. They called us Yellow

Jackets for some reason, I haven’t figured that out yet. I was an 18-year-old child when I went to Vietnam. I enlisted when I was 17. I went to Vietnam and I thought hey this is going to be an exotic adventure, but it was far more than that. We worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 353 days in a row and I worked in a photo reconnaissance outfit and body counts were a big deal back in those days and my job was to blow up the pictures so that they could count the pieces, parts and add up their body counts for the day. I had to see and experience death up close on a real way that I had never even experienced. I came from Anaheim, California, Disneyland. I was just a kid when I went there. I got to see more death and destruction and just inhumane things that a child should never have to see. If anyone ever goes to

Washington DC, they have a monument there and the biggest number of people at that monument, 33,000 people died when they were 18 years old over there that out of 53,000 people. I came back from Vietnam and like she said there was no welcome home. There was no big surprise. There was nothing and I was just told don’t wear my uniform off the base, keep your head down and don’t brag about what you have been doing and I lived with that. I spent 20 years 3 months and 14 days in the Air

Force, but who was counting? The day after that I got a job with Northrop Grrumman on the B2 Stealth Bomber and the F35 Aircraft and I also worked there for another 20 years. But I still had nightmares every night, afraid to go to sleep because that is when the bad guys came out. I have been in treatment for 15 years and then I heard about this thing called Honor Flight. Free trip to DC, I am in for it. When we got there it was much more than not just an adventure or tourist site but when we got to the

Vietnam Memorial, I can’t go down there. There is a lot of ghosts down there that I am still afraid of. This is the reason I can’t sleep at night and they have little song that they sing about welcome home and each one of the staff members will come up and give you a hug and tell you welcome home. It took 52 years for someone just to come up and give me a hug and say welcome home and those words meant a lot and out of those 15 years of counseling that I have gone to that one weekend lifted up a big load off my chest. I came back and I told Ms. Elaine anything you need to have done, I am willing to do whatever it is and I have been a volunteer and one of the Board of

Directors now and we thank you for your time.

Steve Montanez, Member of the Public said I want to use a few seconds of my time to tell the public and this council that if you have never had an opportunity to attend a welcome home ceremony at the airport or here in town, I highly recommend you do it.

It is absolutely life changing. These Veterans, Elaine and the work that she does, they changed my life and I will tell you it is one of the most life-changing experiences and you will never forget it. What I want to talk a little bit about today and what you are going to hear a lot of later today is definitely going to come from a very well-organized

group. A very well-organized group that just yesterday crashed a conservative group at the NMSU campus. Crashed a Border Patrol recruitment booth at a job fair and caused quite the scene at Dona Ana County when they didn’t get their way. These special interest have received their share of funding. It is now time to look at other concepts that our city desperately needs, especially regarding public safety. I will say for the record, Chief Story I have never met you. There is no real influence here other than what I have seen and what I have observed. This is just coming from my observations. I did a little bit of research on the 2025 legislative priorities that our city lobbyist are up in Santa Fe working for. That includes renovation of the Branigan

Library, legacy parks, Klein Park, a local solar access fund, Museum of Nature and

Science redesign. These are all great priorities. They really are. In 2024, funded a lot of these were included in what I just mentioned regarding Branigan and a lot of public parks. There was no mention of Police or public safety in 2024 or 2025. Other expenditures, $60 million, downtown alone, pickleball courts, again Branigan.

Regardless of where it is coming from, EV charging stations, the Amador, we can talk about expenditures to 828 Productions, to Film Las Cruces. The list can go on and on regarding what these special interests have asked for and what they received and I will say that I am also grateful for. In some cases, I may not agree but I am grateful for it. So, I am here just to tell you, just to advise stand your ground when it comes to public safety. Stand your ground when it comes to the public interest of our citizens and quite often if you ask them, is it public safety or is it what is on this list that I just read. Many of you will say it is public safety. Again, when they don’t get their way, this is how they behave. Just be ready for it.

Eddie Thomas, Member of the Public said I am here to let you know that I am vehemently opposed to the Councilor Bencomo staying on the council. I respectfully ask for her resignation. She is heading up a group, and it is probably the reason she is not here. She is in Santa Fe I believe heading up a group that is a group of trial lawyers that are against SB 99, which you all know is the medical malpractice reform bill. My 87-year-old mother lives with me. Thank God she is in great health, but she has got doctors here and it seems like Councilor Bencomo’s efforts, we are chasing the doctors away from the state of New Mexico. Pretty soon we are not going to have any doctors to go to. Luckily, we only live 40 miles away from El Paso where we can find doctors if so needed. That goes against everything that I stand. Another issue that I have with her is she either openly or behind the scenes oppose everything that

Chief Story has stood for. Luckily, we won in several cases. One of them being the shopping cart ordinance that was passed. Another thing that goes against me is the abortion facility that was recently defeated. I don’t know if you all noticed but there is a lot of Catholic Churches in this area okay last time, I checked the Pope is pro-life and so I believe that she is not with the people. She is tone deaf. She is not listening to her constituents and so I was very gladdened by the fact that none of the concrete contractors bid on that project and the abortion facility was defeated. So, I seem to find myself at odds with everything that she stands for. She is mostly pushing her radical leftist liberal agenda here and I totally oppose it and so I respectfully ask for her resignation.

Juan Garcia, Member of the Public said at the February 2 council meeting the attorney for 828 stated that he was limited to five minutes and not allowed a presentation while the city took nearly 24 minutes including a full presentation. There

were contractual issues, I got it. But why was 828’s request denied when the city faced no such restrictions. This inconsistency raises questions about transparency.

Citizens deserve to hear both sides. The council owes the public an explanation, additionally and paraphrasing the 828 CEO comments, in just 18-24 months LCPD was called over 100 times. One employee was even chased by someone wielding a machete. It is no wonder many of our properties are too dangerous to develop. The bowling alley for example is impossible to keep secure. Every time we show it to an actor, producer or director we worry about running into an illegal camper. At this point councilor cut in. I knew where this was going, she stated. In other words, the elephant in the room, the city’s crime problem was becoming impossible to ignore, and the

CEO’s comments were making that obvious. So then rather than address the crime issue and the impact to this business the blame shifted. Who interrupted? The same councilor who once said, “I have little sympathy for Walmart and their stolen property”.

That says everything about support for Las Cruces businesses. The latest scandal resembling ballot stuffing is troubling in a recent New Mexico in depth article.

Representative Sarah Silva reported getting a barrage of emails from supposed constituents opposing medical malpractice reform. The odd part is that at least five people told her that they never sent the messages. Another lawmaker got a pile of 50 printed emails. She called every name and not a single person said they had sent one. Silva said the obvious of this the lobbyist for New Mexico for Safety Over Profit confirmed the email she received came from the group which opposed malpractice reform, New Mexico Safety Over Profit is at it again. This is a dark money group run by trial lawyer allies who oppose reform and their Executive Director is right here on this council. Councilor Bencomo who once said in this chambers and lied about a local resident dodging council members is the one running this group. I will not be threatening or rude like a previous speaker was but I ask the council to do the right thing. Please resign.

Yoli Diaz, Member of the Public said I have continued to send you emails to keep you informed of present and past issues that affect the present. I have provided solutions.

Problems in accessing health care at Memorial Medical Center were exasperated per

IPRA documents from Dona Ana County and from Memorial Medical Center to Dona

Ana County in year 2014 when MMC CEO John Harrison forced an aggressive and immediate expense reduction in revenue enhancement which defines the opposite of quality patient care. In year 2015, MMC updated their Chat policy and discriminated against a group of Dona Ana County residents by following the current Memorial

Medical Center upfront cash collection policy and as a last resort collect the Medicare reasonable and customary fee upfront before services are provided and in year 2016 by MMC updating the Chat policy again by removing cancer care regardless of cancer being included in the asset purchase agreement. You may recall my recent email request to MMC CEO Dennis Knox, he doesn’t answer all of my questions but he does provide a bogus financial assistance policy. I let him know that he is required to post an annual report required by New Mexico statutes, the Patient’s Debt Collection

Protection Act which was enacted and effective July 2021. MMC CEO Dennis Knox notified me of the website changes January 29, 2025. MMC adds the statute required annual report, however, MMC leaves out the most pertinent section indigent care data. Was this accidental? Was this willful concealment? Being that MMC CEO

Dennis Knox did not provide the details of my requested data, I believe it is willful concealment. I know MMC violated New Mexico Law when they did not have their

annual report on their website for four years. Fiscal year 2024, being incomplete may still violate New Mexico Law. As MMC’s half lessor please don’t allow them to violate

New Mexico Statues. By IPRA I requested annual reports from the state. MMC’s fiscal year 2024 report shows 110 indigent claims. Fiscal year 2023, 103 indigent claims.

Fiscal year 2022, 127 indigent patients and fiscal year 2021, 133 indigent patients.

These numbers are per year and seem extremely low for a low income and high insured county. Let’s compare other hospitals indigent claims and patient for fiscal year 2024. MountainView, right here in Las Cruces that has less than Memorial

Medical Center beds of 199 with 168 has 4,152 indigent claims. Presbyterian Santa

Fe, 3,665. Lincoln County Medical Center in Ruidoso 2,235. Plains Regional in Clovis

4,041. Socorro General 1,250, that is a population of 16,000 with 24 beds. Mimbres

Memorial in Deming, 1,310. So, I really hope that you understand when I say terminate Life Point and bring in an operator that really cares about quality patient care to all Dona Ana County residents.

Trent Christopher, Member of the Public said I am from here. I work here. I work at

Memorial Medical Center. I want to open by saying that we are all living in the same city. We are all seeing the same thing. I mention that I live here, not for sentimental reasons but so that you know that I have seen the development of the city over the past 20 years. The same as anyone else has. We are seeing the poverty, we are seeing the crime and as a result of that I was happy that the city came to the people and held votes all over town determining how the GRT money would be used. I attended in my district. I promise I just attended in my district. I don’t think that election got stolen and unfortunately it seems like the priorities there have been largely ignored. There was at least when I went absolutely no stickers on the LCPD side of the board. People are wanting almost overwhelmingly wanting improvements to the Library, improvements to water infrastructure, improvements to the roads, community programs, for the youth. I believe that this is the priority of the people right now is to take actions against crime that are other than policing. LCPD receives $38 million of the budget in fiscal year 2025. This is by far the largest share of the budget that LCPD received. They haven’t lost money ever. Every year getting more and more money. I think we should use the money from the GRT increase for what the people ask for. That seems simple. Anything other than that is circumventing the democratic process that you did. If we don’t give the people what they clearly ask for then I would ask the council next time don’t bother asking.

Linley Hornsby, Member of the Public said I am here to talk about the priorities that our community shared with you all for our GRT, the shared resource to improve our city and we saw priorities such as libraries, rec centers, water infrastructure support, road maintenance, restoration of the WIA Building, more support for senior centers and affordable housing and the common thread between a lot of those is where the community is asking to use our shared resources for more third spaces. Third spaces are community spaces outside of work, school, and home. I think some of what we saw in the data from the community feedback is that the community loves our city of

Las Cruces libraries, parks and trails and the public voted for more of those for our growing city. Not funding for more police training. There was some support for some repair of the fire station but that doesn’t necessarily have to relate to a public safety police training center. Police and Fire can be separate though they are often allied, the community certainly doesn’t see it that way. We need more third spaces that will

benefit all of the community and especially youth in our community who say there is not enough safe spaces for youth in our community. Youth continue to be scapegoated and criminalized in our community and we need more spaces for youth not incarceration. So really just encouraging this council to look closely at the data.

The stickers were great. The community enjoyed participating that way. It is really clear to see what we are prioritizing here and I believe the public safety training facility didn’t make the top ten, right? So that is significant so if that training facility comes up as a high priority in the budget that this council approves that means it is not coming from the community it is coming from somewhere else and our community is active and here today watching and really wanting to see you all make decisions that reflect what we want to see in our community. The resources that we are bringing together in our increased taxes.

Guillermo Canway, Member of the Public said I am here from Las Cruces and all of that. I did want to continue with what was said. I did want to pull up the specific information of what were the top ten most voted things that our community wanted and amongst that is water treatment, art spaces, rec centers, and all of these places that we are part of. Security is barely only making the top of the list. Primarily in maintaining the things that are already there, primarily vehicles and maintenance including for the fire station. But it seems for a great majority of people the care is to make spaces to be in and to exist in this town. I would like to see more people outside and about and being part of these spaces. We are lucky we have the parks. We have some of the few spaces. Heck even New Mexico State University in a way but we still need reasons to be outside. We still need reasons to be part of these communities and having safe places where we feel like we can all come to and there is always eyes around us not of security or police but of other people around us. One of the big concepts for keeping a safe city is to have a walkable and having eyes on the street.

The more places we have to go and more places we can come together the more eyes we have on our spaces. We had an example brought up of a space that they could not even work on that was an abandoned space because it was the only place those people could go but if we have more spaces, more places where people are out we don’t have to worry quite as much about the security. I do ask that we focus on making places too in some places secure that and work on making more security for the few places we have. I think we need places to exist. To be a community. To be a place as a whole and we already have stuff we still need to take care of. The library, the rec center. We still need more and still have to do better with the places we do have. So, I hope you guys will reconsider your decision into making this facility for the future.

Gabriel Visus, Member of the Public said I want to take this opportunity to number one, thank you for this forum and this venue. This is the very foundation that the

American Constitution of the Republic was built on and this opportunity is critical both for our community and for the grass roots movement that keeps American way of life viable. I primarily want to start with a statement of support. Number one to Chief Story and the Las Cruces Police Department. Especially in the face of an environment that is not always supportive. Openly oppositional. These are not individuals who come from somewhere removed. They are our neighbors. They are our brothers and our sisters. They are individuals who shop at the same places we do, go to the same church we do, the children attend the same schools as ours. So, I think a big part of

what we need to do is we need to take a step back and reassess this narrative we have built of us versus them. We are a community. We are one community. We are one people. We have to be in this together. Additionally, I would like to talk about the funding difference between the GRT and the GO Bond. The GRT is very specifically approved largely for public safety, whereas the GO Bond is general obligation funds that can be used for anything deemed necessary in the county. It is very important that we keep that delineation very clear. Funds that are obligated for public safety need to be used for public safety. The GRT proposal to build an improved facility for both the Fire Department and Police Office is not an ambiguous request for funds. It is very well articulated and very well planned. Number one, it will increase public safety by providing better training and better skills and better capability for our officers. This creates a safer environment for everyone. Number two, Chief Story talked about making this facility open to the public for recreation. That is a big morale boost. It also creates a safer environment to prevent some of the illegal activity that does make some of the racing environments a little less safe and number three he talked about opening this up to film or to other agencies who would pay to use that facility thus bringing in income to the city. Right now, we find ourselves in an environment that almost everyone here who has spoken and agreed is unaffordable, unsafe and unfree. Let’s fix that.

Lucas Herndon, Member of the Public said I attended last week’s Work Session and I was surprised to see the staff presentation indicating what the city’s priorities were based on GRT spending because I attended most of those public meetings that the city held last year and I attended the meetings before that where the community came and asked the city to hold those meetings because up until that point it wasn’t clear exactly how the process was going to go for the way the city was going to expend those funds. I attended the council meetings after those public meetings where staff presented the data in a raw form, albeit troubling form by clever use of statistics. I was surprised last week to come and see the priorities listed out by staff, not reflective of the community’s desires based on those community meetings or the staff’s initial presentation last fall. I am here today to follow through on that and re-up my commitment to remain vigilant and engaged as many of us are. It is ironic to be insinuated that I am somehow a part of something more organized than the people who are literally wearing little name badges on their shirts to their club that they meet every Thursday at Kitchen Kraft on Telshor just in case we want to talk about groups of people who are organized. This community continues to show up and show out for each other. We keep us safe and shared spaces are part of that. Arguably one of the most beautiful things of Las Cruces is the Farmer’s Market. It was when I was a kid, we didn’t have the Main Street back through town, it was covered. We had those brick planters. It was still a public space and in its own way wonderful. It is better now.

Change can happen and we can make things better. Change doesn’t mean things are bad. I know that I often have a particular agenda that I come up here with and while I think there are a lot of things to be said about that right now I mostly want you to listen to the calls of this community, the calls that we went and sought and have the data to respond to that we want Parks & Rec Centers and safer roads and cleaner water and those are beautiful things and we can support those, thank you.

Spencer Taylor, Member of the Public said I am from District 2. I am a former NMSU professor and currently in my final semester of Master Social Work. I am also here to

speak on the issue of GRT funds. So, the first thing is we need to listen to the community. I think it has been said many times and in many different ways. I think we understand what the community wants, resources, especially at a time when some of our higher levels of government like the federal government are taking resources away from us. It is really important that in our local level we get some of the resources back on our investment and these types of resources, we are looking for proactive resources. We are looking for things that give us third space like we said. We are also looking for Parks & Rec resources, improved water, things that the community sees directly. And then I think it is really important that we let go of this narrative of police equals safety. Police may be a part of what we put out for safety, but a lot of data shows that police don’t inherently equal safety. Increase funding for police, increase training for police don’t inherently equal safety. Actually, the resources that we are all calling for are the things that increase safety/decrease crime. When people have opportunities to engage in healthy ways, engage in ways that are creative, engage in ways that are connective to each other and the community then you see a decrease in crime. Then you see increase in safety because in situations like that you are essentially being proactive and you are not reacting. You have those situations where community members are building connections with each other. It is not as if people commit crimes just wake up one day and say I want to commit crime because I just feel like doing bad things. Usually, it is out of desperation. Usually, it is out of a situation where you are lacking something. Lacking connection to your community.

Lacking positive outlets. Lacking basic resources, healthcare. Resources for food, access to food. These things are where we can really get to addressing improvements in our community in terms of safety in terms of connection and in terms of health and I think the community has spoken pretty clearly on that and how we would like our investments to be in those places so I am here to ask you all to follow through on that please.

Rose, Member of the Public said I live in District 2, and I am a lifelong resident here in

Las Cruces and I am also here today to speak about the GRT fund priorities the community wanted in fall of 2025, which what was mentioned, libraries, parks, rec centers, and essential public infrastructure, maintenance and amenities. There has been a shift in what has been prioritized and these are things that was not in our demands like police training facility, which funding for police wasn’t even in the top ten. The only funding that was on the list for police was fleet maintenance. The community has spoken and we want to invest in things that better the quality of life for everyone in every stage of life and since there has been an ongoing concern of youth in our community investments in spaces like parks, rec centers, libraries, and skate parks which the completion of that is long overdue. Things our youth deserve to have to grow and develop into well rounded adults in our community and personally if I ever decide to have a kid I would want them to live in a city that invests in public spaces that foster positive growth. And lastly as public officials it is your duty to follow through with what you and your constituents agreed upon and as your constituents, we will hold accountability. Investing in our community spaces over incarceration is what will make our city great.

Zach Egan, Member of the Public said I am in District 2. I am also here today to speak on the GRT spending proposal. The city of Las Cruces voted to increase our own taxes in order to improve our community and last year the city council asked for public

input on how to best allocate that money. The community overwhelmingly spoke to put that money towards Public Works, building public spaces, improvements to existing public facilities and youth programing. Last week the city stated that they would be allocating about $4 million of those funds towards a police training center.

This goes against what the public voted for and on several occasions the public services mentioned have been affirmed by Chief Story as means for reducing crime, especially juvenile crime in Las Cruces. When our citizens and kids have things to do it reduces crime and this is what the city has voted for. We want more things to do.

We want more third spaces. I think it is inevitable that the city will allocate funds for a police training center and I recognize the need for more police training especially in deescalation and non-violent intervention. I also believe in transparency, accountability, and democracy. So, my ask is that you use the GRT money for what the public voted for and find another way to fund the training center. If you want to fund a police training facility and fund it through a tax increase why not put it on the ballot and let the people vote on what they want.

Dave Wilson, Member of the Public said I am from District 2. I would like to thank you all for your service. Especially Bill, who has been doing this for long time. He is my representative, my council member. I have not been up here in the 50 years I have lived in Las Cruces very much. Mostly on business I had a business here publication relations, an advertising firm for a number of years. City has been our client, State of

New Mexico has been our client. I have been involved from the Jemez/Anthony

Casino Project to the monument representing the Farm and Ranch Community and the monument process. I just want to tell you guys that I am very familiar with these public hearing meetings, and I have been a part of them. I have helped organize them from different sides from Native Americans to ranchers. I am going to tell you, and I am going to warn you that there are highly organized groups that put together efforts to stack the influence of these meetings. On the monument valley, Lucas is involved in that. We had a big public meeting, Secretary of Interior came and Secretary was to hear public input at the Ramada, capacity of 275 people and Lucas’s group bused in five buses, 50 passenger buses. One from Silver City, two from El Paso and a couple from Albuquerque. The capacity was 375, 250 people were bused in. I have run sustainability meetings for the county. I have been in charge of the communications for that stuff and there is traveling groups that come. Nobody shows up to these things and because we are ordered to hold the campaigns after 4th of July, during back to school when people are at their busiest times so that the general public doesn’t show up so these groups can manipulate and send their emails. Two groups, they are highly organized activists by these public events. I mean it goes on and I have seen it for years guys. So, when you hear the helicopters flying people to El

Paso in our medical system, which they go over my house every day and we use to never hear those helicopters. When you hear that the public is outraged and we don’t have enough doctors it is because government is failing us. I support our Police Chief

Story and what he is trying to do, his public safety role is number one. The money needs to go to public safety.

Dolores Lucero, Member of the Public said Mayor I owe you an apology, last year on

March 14th, I sat with you in the back room here and I told you I would never show up to another council meeting because nobody listens. Because nothing was getting done and over this past year of having many people approach me and go, Dolores,

why did you shut up? Don’t let anybody shut you up. The reason you listen to people is because you get involved and I listened to a lot of people. Sitting here at city council years ago and there weren’t a lot of young people in the chambers. They were working. I don’t know where everybody is working these days. That is what you should be working on. Secondly, I would like to say that there was never two seats empty at this council and when I walked in today, which is totally spontaneous for me today I was not planned on being here. I am surprised that there are other businesses more important than the citizens of Las Cruces that elected them to be here. In eight years, I missed two meetings. One for my brother’s death and one for my mother’s death and that was it. Now there is things that come up and I understand that, but I think there is reason for absentee today to say that I don’t want to listen to the public. I am going to be five years old, and I am going to put my hands over my ears and shake my head. That is what I see at this council right now over the last year. I see a lot of disrespect. I see a lot of people that don’t understand the system. Do I support

Chief Story, of course I do. I worked with three different police chiefs, and they were all outstanding, but you know what is outstanding about Las Cruces PD is that the other officers that he is leading down a track to make this better. We want to talk about parks. What happened to Apodaca Park? Closed down the pool, didn’t replace it. We don’t have anything there. What happened to Branigan Park? Donated by Mr.

Branigan. Not there, it is because the city has failed with keeping up with what is happening in Las Cruces. There is no reason to build brand new everything. Think about what you already have and take care of it but it hasn’t been taken care of because there is outside interest here and it is no longer nonpartisan. For those who don’t understand what the public or the city council’s role is or what the City

Manager’s role is? These few things, one, you are supposed to provide the best Fire and Police safety. So, you know what? That is going to cost a lot. Number two, you are supposed to provide the best utilities, water, gas, sewer, pick up trash, keep it clean. Number three, the best roads because that is how people move. Those are your priorities. Remember that.

Megan O’Leary, Member of the Public said I am a resident of Las Cruces. As a native

New Mexican and former special education teacher for Albuquerque Public Schools I experienced firsthand the struggles New Mexico has faced in providing quality education, employment, and safety for its residents. Approximately 17% of the population lives in poverty and student proficiency in reading and math is among the lowest in the country. Therefore, utilizing most city funding to enhance and increase the training and militarization of the Las Cruces Police Department not only ignores the community’s priority and needs but essentially provides a small band aid solution to a much larger structural wound. There is proof that investing in increased police presence, surveillance, and incarceration rates at the expense of community resources has devastating consequences including increased polarization, fear, and scapegoating. We should instead focus more funding on assisting community-based resources including the LIGHT team, which stands for Lessen the Incidents of Grief,

Harm, and Trauma. LIGHT is a deescalation team consisting of firefighters, paramedics, and social workers who respond to 911 emergency mental health crisis. I urge you to honor the vision with investing in community mental health resources, public libraries, educational programs, and recreational centers that provide a stable lasting foundation so that the community of Las Cruces can truly live and thrive in peace and safety.

Ken Binkley, Member of the Public said I am a business owner here in the city of Las

Cruces. I wanted to come and speak today. We did help with the 2024 gross receipts tax campaign. One of the primary things that we pushed in that radio script which many of the people in the county or city and county heard was that public safety would be a top priority and so many thousands of dollars were spent on that. This was a message that many people in Las Cruces heard. I know there were meetings. I am sure that these meetings had people that attended and I promise that the radio spot that went out to the voters had much higher numbers than the folks that attended these meetings. Additionally, I give my support to Chief Story. As a business owner I had been concerned about break-ins and other types of crime at our office located by the Casa Autoplex now, formally the Borman Autoplex. We had good policing in that area and I feel like that is to the credit of him and his police force. I am not a friend of

Chief Story. I have met him a couple of times at presentations, but we don’t do things socially. If I see him in public, I say hello, but I am not influenced by personal standards here. The last thing I heard from instructor Taylor, I believe he is a professor at the University or teaching, and he was talking about needs and some of the basic needs. As we know from some of our marketing classes that we all took in college Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, safety is one of those key components so that people can enjoy open spaces and other things like being self-actualized. So, I hope that the city will continue to focus on Public Safety since the campaign’s goals were set forth, that would be one of the key items.

Vic Villalobos, Member of the Public said I honestly don’t know where to start. These meetings are just always so exciting all of the different ways they go but I think we stick with what we know which is public safety. You know I think when we talk about public safety, it is what your constituents want. You know I personally did not have time to make to go to some of your meetings that you had and stuff and I can tell you that people that I know who voted and when they voted public safety was the reason they voted for that money and I don’t think anybody not one of us is asking that you don’t spend money in other places we need improvement in other areas. We know that we need improvement in other areas, but it has to start with public safety. I know that there are people in this crowd that think that we can do without the police that we don’t need to further train our police that we can somehow or another manage things on our own. Trust me, you don’t want me managing that for you. That is not the outcome that this city probably wants. But I can tell you, I listened to Chief Story this morning when he had his new conference and I can tell you that the shooting at

Walmart from a known gang person in Las Cruces with a long criminal history. No creative outlet you give that person would have made a difference that day on whether he was shooting police or not. But what did make a difference was that the police were trained to handle that situation and you think about the fact that I have a friend that has their daughter living in the neighborhood there and they were the first call I made that morning when I knew what was going on because the police were able to hold that perimeter nothing else had to happen. Those trained officers and the training they get at work were able to hold that perimeter and stop that threat from going out. That only comes from training and from knowing what they are doing and how to work together and we have got to continue that and so you need to spend that money for training facilities for both the police and the fire and continue your support as I know you do for Chief Story because it is truly what is working in this city right

now and we need all the help we can get.

Connie Chapman, Member of the Public said I am here mostly today because the police held their press conference this morning on the shooting from February 8th, that I had been waiting to hear about and I am very disturbed not necessarily about how it all came down other than the amount of force used to pursue a shoplifter. I don’t know all the rules and regulations around such things. I am just thrilled that it was just a very quiet morning in that Walmart parking lot as that officer sped off to pursue a shoplifter. There could have been a child running out from between cars we would have lost that child. I think that needs to be reviewed. The amount of force used to pursue a shoplifter. That’s an issue. On top of that, all this talk about the GRT money, I also watched the Work Session last week and was a little bit amazed at the presentation. It did seem to skew the results I heard at the October 17th presentation by your staff. Just make sure we take the time to review it all and I also want to say that public safety does not equate to police. That is just the way people assume it means it but if I say public safety that is not my definition and it is not always the definition of anybody else. So, we need to work on that definition of public safety.

Also, some of that GRT money went to us old folks and I would like to make sure that those senior centers get the money they need.

Derrick Pacheco, Member of the Public said I wanted the additional minute to start this meeting by thanking and showing some love. I would like to start things a little different and start with some love, but I am going to need everyone’s undivided attention. Chief, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. You have always been very approachable, very respectful and a welcome change from Chief

Dominguez. Mr. Daniels, I understand that fires are out of control in this county, thank you for your service and your team. I know it is a thankless job. Mr. Sedillo, thank you for your continued service. Ms. Delgado, thank you. Ms. McClure, I didn’t realize that you were such an accomplished author. Thank you for bringing your talents to this city. Mr. Mattiace, for your continued service as a business leader and a thoughtful pragmatic thinker on the bench. Mr. Harris, I can’t thank you enough for your presence on the bench. Your demeanor is much welcome. Your attention to detail and the way that you respectfully with all your body pay attention to constituents is noted.

Mr. Munoz, glad to have you. Thank you for taking diligent notes. I noticed that. Mr.

Enriquez, thank you for your prior service on the fire team here and I appreciate you as Mayor. Ikani, I can’t say your name as well as everyone else’s yet, but I am working on it. Thank you for sticking around, coming in from Utah while others bounced around and you stuck around I appreciate that. Mr. Douglas thank you for your work. Ms. Rivera, thank you today for giving me extra attention. With that being said this city and this county is in shambles, and it is really heartbreaking. We have a great divide here from the county to the city to the constituents. I feel so blessed to be amongst my peers that are so very smart and very caring and they show up time and time to voice their concerns with their heart on their chest knowing very well that they could be doxed or otherwise pointed at when they are the grocery store or giggled at by the ladies in the back row. In regard to the county being divided by the city and vice versa Project Jupiter comes to mind real quick. I don’t think once we have heard any testimony regarding water restrictions here in the city. We are not allowed to water on Mondays. We are only allowed to water our tomato gardens every other day yet we bring in major projects without consulting the other team. We are all working in

silos and vacuums and not together and I think that if we work together and took a more humanistic approach to things we would figure this out in a heartbeat, in an LA minute. Most of our problems locally would be fixed. It really would. Very disappointing that my Councilor McClure told me that she isn’t allowed to bring forth resolutions for discussion or for consideration. That is just untrue. That was you not wanting to bring forth a resolution. That was you not wanting to rock the boat. That was you not wanting to engage with the constituent that has a real concern about

Flock. Mr. Mattiace, thank you for your phone call but you didn’t answer my questions on email like you said you would. I would appreciate some answers.

Shannon Murray, Member of the Public said I manage a small business in District 4, which is one of the most poorly run districts. It is a shame Ms. Bencomo isn’t here. I do pay my GRT, but I live in the county, so I do feel like I have a little bit of taxation without representation, but I am just here to say that I am for a training center for first responders, police, fire. Nothing makes people better than training. I tell people that with their dogs at the dog facility I have, you have to train those dogs. I am all for building awesome places for people to hang out and you know inspire children and be with your families but if they are not safe nobody is going to go. So, think about that.

Chris Apodaca, Member of the Public said you all have my resume up there. I was here a couple of weeks ago and everything on that paper is basically my life. Forty years of my professional life in Hollywood. There are things that I know that they don’t teach people in colleges as far as how the business really works. Relationships, respect is very important. What I would like to see happen, you know I have been watching Film Las Cruces in the city, eight years living in Hollywood and then moving back here to be with my mother five years ago and the only thing that I looking at the

14 years, Ross finally got his sound stage there at New Mexico State which is good.

There is a film office and a nice website. They offer different services but there isn’t anybody bringing, Mayor you said Las Cruces is ready for business. We are now open for business, I believe is what you said and from my experience and you know I am working on some things in Las Vegas now, Summerland Studios and also working on some projects in Los Angeles. I am trying to get connected here, it just doesn’t seem like they like Hollywood people. They like Hollywood money but not Hollywood experience. It is kind of how I feel about everything, which is fine. If I am such a big shot, why am I here in Las Cruces? I am here because of my family. I came here to be with my mom. She has since passed. I have two older brothers and an older sister and most likely I wouldn’t be here if they weren’t here. I would like to be able to do something for the film community here. You have got to treat the city like an agent would treat a client. You need to get out there. It is about relationships. Relationships and deal making.

Gilbert Amezquita, Member of the Public said for the record I just want to say this is my first time attending the City Council meeting. As such this is my first time coming up here to speak but I just felt compelled after hearing some of the individuals give their opinion. I was not born but I was born in El Paso, but I don’t claim it. I grew up here in Cruces, my childhood from elementary to high school, went on to NMSU and then after I graduated, I joined the Air Force. So, I was away from Las Cruces for several years, but I have seen it grow and become a larger city. No doubt with all of the inherent problems that cities have. I wanted to speak because I felt compelled that

I agree with the lady, one of the ladies that spoke earlier about putting down definitions because public safety does mean different things to different people and someone eluded to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you know if anybody remembers going through some of the courses that you help meet the basic needs first before you’re going to be interested in self-actualization. You which is the top level there whatever that really means. It means different things to different people.

But for me public safety is about security. It is about having a safe place to live and work and play. Having parks, I am all for parks and recreation centers and all of that. I am totally for that but unless you have a safe environment and I am sorry to say this but I don’t agree that if you throw enough money at some institution and you will turn criminals and bad people into good people. Police are required and their training is critical. I was a security police in the first part of my tenure in serving the Air Force and I will tell you this, it was the training that we received in knowing how to respond to incidences that was able to mitigate and solve those from becoming escalated so I am all for the police training facility, totally support it.

Jeff Jorgensen, Member of the Public said I am in District 6. John, congratulations in your new position. Mayor, council members, Police Chief, Fire Chief, I was public safety when there wasn’t public safety. As a public safety officer in the state of Illinois and back then it was unheard of. Police and Fire, the amount of training that firefighter goes through and a police officer goes through is just uncomprehensible. This city, I am all for it. So are my neighbors. I represent about half a dozen neighbors on my block in District 6 and they are in full agreement. We have to have a public safety center to maintain the professionalism that we expect in the city of Las Cruces. I go around, I look at the low-income housing being built, the amount of apartments alone,

God forbid if any of those ever caught on fire. I look at what is going on in our city with the homeless. The drug addiction problem. What happened the other day, the shooting at Walmart and excuse me it wasn’t just a shoplifter. It was a shoplifter with a gun. You fire at the police expect to get fired back upon. It was handled professionally and I cannot tell you how much respect I have for both our Police and our Fire Chief. I served all my life in public safety. When the Fire Department has to go to the park to retrieve a young infant out of a latrine, a firefighter takes that lifeless body out of the blue fluid, that scars a man for eternal. I have seen things with my eyes that no one should have seen and these gentleman have too. Respect them. They need a new public safety facility that has been talked about since 2016. Let’s do it folks. Let’s do it folks and I love each and every one of you and I can’t say enough about my city of

Las Cruces. I moved here in July of 2022, and I love this city and you folks do an outstanding job, thank you.

Jim Hoerst, Member of the Public said what part of inalienable rights, certain inalienable rights do you not understand? You know certain inalienable rights. As in we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What does the pursuit of happiness mean if it does not mean the right to migrate. The right to flee persecution, oppression or poverty and settle in a country where you can hope to breathe free and prosper. The Trump Administration does not recognize this right. They don’t recognize that humans have rights by virtue of being born into the human race. Jefferson called them certain inalienable rights. He declared that we created our government to protect those certain inalienable rights.

Not to take them away. The founding of our nation depended on a compromise. The northern states would allow slavery, and the slave owners would agree to a national creed that declares all men are created equal. Thus, making slavery and tyrannical government forever illegitimate. It took a bloody civil war and centuries of racial prejudice before the compromise paid off but that compromise has paid off. Our society rejects tyranny and tyrants. We consider them illegitimate. It was reported in the New York Times that the Department of Justice is tracking those who make negative comments about ICE. Well track this Mr. President. ICE is illegitimate because it has become an instrument of tyranny. ICE has no respect for due process of law and our certain inalienable rights. The best way to fix ICE is to eliminate it.

Americans want a President and a government that will champion our certain inalienable rights. We reject any agency of government that does not. Las Cruces is right to oppose ICE by whatever authority you have. Thank you for doing so and please don’t stop.

Jennifer Kreie, Member of the Public said I think the budgeting process is incredibly difficult. I am so glad I am not in your shoes, but I am going to give you some input.

So, you have a certain amount of money, and you have a lot of demands. So, you are going to support the police, of course. Who wouldn’t? Parks & Recreation, I think tennis courts come in here. You got roads, or transportation, broaden it a little bit.

Then you have more police and then you have Fire Department, very important. I agree. We all need to have these services. And then you have general maintenance.

Also, important. Not terribly exciting but it is important and then you have more police.

And then you have other but there is no library support, and I am not just talking about the GRT. That just happened to be the topic last week. Branigan Library provides a tremendously valuable service to the community, and it reaches a range in age and socioeconomic status that nothing else does. So, I just wanted to say as a tennis player the library is more important than the tennis courts but that is just between you and me. Please support the library.

Liz Bennett, Member of the Public said I am a public health social worker. I want to start by thanking the staff and council and community for all of your effort in moving

GRT funded projects forward. It is not a simple or easy task. I also want to thank

Councilor Corran and Bencomo for their effort to elevate community voices during the

GRT Work Session and as a community member I wanted to shar my disappointment that there was not more genuine consideration of investing in recreation centers as it was an overwhelmingly supported project and it is an intervention that responds to the immediate needs expressed by the young people in our community. To me public safety means affordable housing, youth centered spaces, economic opportunities that allow families to feed their children and community based therapeutic services that support people’s recovery from generational trauma, violence, and poverty. From the

Work Session I understand that road construction is considered a gesture towards the intention to perhaps build a recreational center in that area at a later date. So, I have a few follow up questions from that Work Session. One, how long would road construction take? Is there a plan to invest in developing a plan for that recreational center? Does a plan already exist? Is the unfinished skate park one of the unfinished projects mentioned in the GRT plan? I am considered about the lack of real investment required to meet the current needs of young people and their families. The kinds of investments that research demonstrates make a difference in young people’s

lives compared to the systems of incarceration that research demonstrates contributes to increased risks to future recidivism. In addition to recreational infrastructure, I recommend that the city invest in expanding the youth development and diversion program, increasing the rate of pay for their staff and creating opportunities for young people who have graduated from that program to return as paid mentors as credible messengers to share their experiences of recovery. We are going to continue to see this same challenges in future generations unless we address root causes of these issues. So, I look forward to hearing more about how this council plans to make serious investments in positive youth development.

Fred Huff, Member of the Public said at the last two city council meetings that I spoke at I talked with gratitude about the new park rangers trying to make our parks safer for regular citizens to use. When I first spotted the cadet rangers working with their LCPD mentors on January 12th there was 11 illegal encampments in the Burn Lake area.

One of those illegal encampments had been there for over a year and nothing had been done about it. When I talked to the officers that day, I asked them why so many illegal encampments popped up recently. They told me that the people in the illegal encampments had told them that the Community of Hope had told them to come to this location. Who gave the Community of Hope the authority to tell people to trespass wherever they want on city property? During the next few weeks while the park ranger cadets finished their training nine of those illegal encampments were removed and cleaned up with the help of Mano y Mano. When the park rangers were officially on their own as of February 1st there was still three illegal encampments in the lakebed that refuse to vacate. With the daily visits from the park rangers and the placing of their orange no trespassing tag at the illegal encampments sites they were finally vacated on February 6th. So today is the 11th day without any illegal encampments in the Burn Lake city park area. Thank you park rangers for stepping up to make our community better. Today the Progress New Mexico activists spoke in favor of spending the taxpayer money raised with the recent GRT increase on more recreation centers and safe spaces. I am going to assume that it is parks. When the GRT tax was being promoted it was public safety, public safety, public safety. Now these people are wanting our GRT tax dollars to be spent on recreation and pleasure. That is not what the citizens of Las Cruces voted for. The city already has 90 parks or public safety areas. Now while all of these parks are not the same. Some are small and others are large there are still 90 parks within the city of Las Cruces. The city

Police Department is comprised of 200 commissioned officers. So, we have almost half the number of parks as the number of police officers. Recently our safe spaces have been the location of a mass shooting. We saw how well that worked out on a safe space and also the murder of a baby in Burn Lake. Please support public safety.

Tim Jenkins, Member of the Public said I can guarantee with 100% certainty that I have never in the history of my life had to call LCPD 26 times in 7 days until this last week. This tells me we have a major problem here in Cruces and we should seriously consider supporting public safety over parks and recreation. I had to call LCPD 26 times this last week all concerning issues with the unhoused community setting fires, vandalizing property, blocking fire hydrants, etcetera. Not sure what has changed this last month, but this issue seems to have absolutely exploded here recently. I would like to make not only city council but the public aware of an issue. The Mayor of Rio

Rancho is visiting Portland, Oregon a few months back and across the street from his

hotel was a Starbucks. He went to grab a quick coffee when at the entrance of the store he noticed an unhoused individual wrapped in a blanket shivering. He asked her, if I buy you a coffee and a Danish would you be willing to have a conversation?

Her reply was yes. He asked her point blank, what is it that you are doing here in this freezing cold, wet, dark, snowy place? Here reply was that her family fell on hard times and she lost everything. He asked her, “What are your long-term goals?” She said, “I am trying to gather enough money to get out of here”. He said, “Where are you trying to get to?” Her reply was I am trying to get to Albuquerque, not knowing that

Albuquerque is basically his backyard. He said, “Why Albuquerque?” And her answer should shock every last one of you. She said, “It is known nationwide through the entire unhoused community that New Mexico is the place to go”. He said,“Why New

Mexico?” She said, “Number one it is warmer down there and number two, we are basically handed everything for free”. He was absolutely shellshocked and said to himself you have got to be kidding me. New Mexico is not only inviting the entire nation here but also breeding and mutating this culture here in New Mexico and I know Mr. Mayor when you were first elected this was a major concern and question to you. My question is, what are we doing today to support public safety and to give our officers the tools they need to combat this monster that has been created by our own legislators and policies in place? Compassion does not mean lawlessness. Grace does not cancel justice. Mercy does not require abandoning borders. New Mexico deserves leadership that supports faith, order, public safety, and the rule of law. Not policies that enable chaos while claiming compassion.

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, and City Councilor John Munoz

5. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 5.1 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 20, 2026.

6. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR CONSENT AGENDA

7. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR DISCUSSION 7.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-102: 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. Gaby Prats, Grant Manager gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Harris asked on slide 4 you mentioned specifically that this was for

construction, do you have more info for specific projects that are planned for this?

Gaby Prats said this one specifically is for the lead service line replacement project that the water utilities undertaken so once they have completed the survey and the identification of lines that are lead and then these funds will come in to finish up the work to do the actual construction or rather replacement of the lines.

Councilor Mattiace asked on page 3, that is a lot of rehabilitation and is that tank very old with most of the work that is being done?

Carl Clark, Assistant Utilities Director said yes it does look good on the outside. It is always on the inside that is the troublesome when you take a look at it. We have seen a huge increase in cost for rehabs with tanks. Our last tank, the Missouri tank, was $2.1 million. That dollar amount is pretty close, we will end up replacing the fencing because it is in very bad condition and doing some grading work on site and then we will get inside the tank and there will be interior and exterior work that we will be doing.

Councilor Mattiace asked will that tank have to be emptied to do the work inside?

Carl Clark said yes.

Councilor Mattiace asked I live in that area, will I still get pressure for flushing?

Carl Clark said yes you will still get water pressure in the area. That tank has been rehabbed once before and from what I recall it was pretty hot at that time. I don’t think we had any issues at that time. We have boosters that are going to pressurize those areas, and you should be fine. City Councilor Cassie McClure moved, seconded by City Councilor William

Mattiace, to Approve Resolution No. 26-102.

MOVER: City Councilor Cassie McClure

SECONDER: City Councilor William Mattiace

ABSENT: City Councilor Johana Bencomo and City Councilor Becky Corran 7.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-103: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF

LAS CRUCES (CITY) TO ACCEPT SECOND QUARTER BUDGET

ADJUSTMENTS FOR VARIOUS CITY DEPARTMENTS THROUGH AN

AMENDMENT TO THE CITY’S ADOPTED FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2025-26

BUDGET. Vanessa Perez, Budget Analyst gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Harris asked on slide 9, can you go into a little more detail on prisoner care? Are we arresting a lot more people?

Vanessa Perez said it is my understanding that we hold more prisoners and the cost

of it has become more expensive.

Josie Trevino, Comptroller said a few years ago I want to say about two or three years ago the county had over billed us on some prisoner care. We then were applying those overpayments to credits. Those credits are not fully paid so this is just used to get back on track to start paying prisoner care invoices.

Councilor Harris said this year we are not incarcerating $600,000 more dollars’ worth of people, it is just we had a bunch of credit and hadn’t been paying that yet.

Josie Trevino said that is correct. We have not done a transfer this year. This is just the first one. We are not short on funds, it is just to pay for the fees but this is the first time this year.

Councilor Harris asked for the public’s benefit, how much does it cost per day to house somebody?

Lesley Doyle, Finance Director said it is about $120 a day.

Councilor Mattiace asked on slide 8 I believe, the Telshor Facility, what does that represent? Is that the Telshor Fund?

Vanessa Perez said yes that is correct. That is the Telshor Fund. Both of these initiatives were approved one or two budget cycles ago and it was intended to improve all of our parks. We just haven’t fully expended all of that money it has been rolling over.

Councilor Mattiace said I was used to see that as Telshor Fund but now it is called

Telshor Facility.

Vanessa Perez said the full name is Telshor Facility Fund. I don’t put the word fund in there because the word fund is already at the top.

Councilor Munoz said page 3, the Quality of Life increase to senior meals program, totally agree that is important and we have to take care of our seniors as they took care of us when we were younger. That is an adjustment, is that because of cuts somewhere, federal or state funding or was that a change to the forecast?

Carol Brey, Quality of Life Director said yes, essentially that is one of the reasons we are asking for this increase. We did see a decrease to the NSIP, Nutrition Services

Incentive Program this year. I believe it was about $123,465 decrease in that and so that is part of this is going to be a total of $165,000 that we will need over two quarters. We are asking for $82,500 this quarter and we will ask for the remainder next quarter most likely and then also increases in attendance of meals as well as increase in food costs, which I believe we are all experiencing.

City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael Harris,

to Approve Resolution No. 26-103.

MOVER: City Councilor John Munoz

SECONDER: City Councilor Michael Harris

ABSENT: City Councilor Johana Bencomo and City Councilor Becky Corran 7.3 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-016; ORDINANCE NO. 3108: AN ORDINANCE

AMENDING CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE IV, DIVISION 3, SUBDIVISION XIV.

VETERANS ADVISORY BOARD OF THE LAS CRUCES MUNICIPAL CODE (LCMC) REGARDING MEMBERSHIP. Christine Rivera, City Clerk gave the overhead presentation. City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael Harris, to Approve Ordinance No. 3108.

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

Harris, and City Councilor John Munoz

ABSENT: City Councilor William Mattiace, City Councilor Johana Bencomo, and City

Councilor Becky Corran

8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS 8.1 JACOB KIDD City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael Harris, to appoint Jacob Kidd to the CIAC.

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 None.

10. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BOARD REPORTS AND COMMENT 10.1 COUNCILOR MCCLURE I am wondering coming out of the conversation today if we should talk a little bit more, this is more towards City Manager about strategy, and I don’t think the public does have an awareness of how we strategize to try and get the most bang for our buck in terms of leverage. As I understand it we are not going to finalize this GRT until April

so a lot of this back and forth might still happen based on what we are getting from the state to a large degree. I think and I don’t want to spoil anybody news but I think we did okay this year but if we didn’t do okay in some of the things that we still value that we go back and think about how we can kind of pepper that into our ask and that is something that is hard to explain to people just in general. I am also one to be like let’s do the thing. Let’s take $500,000 you all have it in accounts. We can just throw it at the thing. Then there is all this slow your roll we have all these processes. And let me give you an example. I want to give a shoutout to Youth Development and

Diversion and they are going to be doing some of their life skills work at the County

Detention for some of the kiddos and they are really excited for that. We toured that facility in August of last year. It took a long time to get all the emails back and forth to make sure everybody had their contracts together that they could go do this, so it is one of those things that took a really long time but talking about what that strategy looks like is sometimes people just don’t understand, right? And I guess I will harp again on my drainage ponds in terms of yea, I would love to get you lights in a street, but we have to do the drainage ponds first and those are not as cool, I am sorry.

Which I did actually reach out to the gentleman, and he was what about the lights.

Maybe next year we will try. It is really dependent on how we have to process some of the things so putting things together I really do appreciate speaking to people and getting more information and everybody on staff. Chief Story has been really helpful talking about Flock and talk about that again. Walking through the process and what does that actually look like and sometimes it is not automatic. It is not overnight. That said, maybe we can be more explicit with it. I don’t know what that looks like especially for the library folks in which I include myself.

The other shoutout I want to give is to Community Schools. I went to the first meeting, and they were like you are Chair. They said how about Vice Chair, and I am like slightly better. I guess they are coming at the end of February to try and give us an idea of key practices that are happening at community schools. Thank you, Councilor

Harris, for also responding to the call and it will be interesting to see what kind of opportunities we can leverage from the city also to the school system. We are different entities, but we have common goals when we figure that out. Looking forward to being more involved. Mayor had asked please adopt a school, Booker T is now my school too. So, what does that look like in terms of how we can help those processes happen faster.

Lastly, I was also really worried about the Ren Fair with the closure of the Arts

Council. I only asked Visit Las Cruces to do it, Community Development maybe also a lot. Can we consider helping that along a little bit? I would be interested in seeing.

Same as Mayor does a pitch for the Whole Enchilada. The Ren Fair meant a lot to the nerdier kids. 10.2 COUNCILOR MATTIACE I just want to accent something that has been happening over the last couple of months. I want to thank the Mayor for prioritizing the after-school programing. We have quite a movement coming but I think a very big meeting on March 11th and I want to thank Carol Brey and the parks, Steven. We had quite a turn out that attended that first initial meeting to expand and approve our afterschool programs and our youth programs and to include career training and so when I think we look at how we

spend the money from the GRT and/or the general fund or other revenues we do spread it to all good programs, are not just priorities in certain programs and we are trying to reach many of the youth in Las Cruces through the schools and I want to thank Steve and Carol Brey and others, Cassie I think attended that second meeting and invited Councilor Harris and I know John Munoz is interested in developing the afterschool program. I think that we have a good consensus to move forward and make those programs better and actually attract youth into viable good programs and thank you. 10.3 COUNCILOR HARRIS The main thing I wanted to highlight is last week Councilor McClure and I, and Chief

Story, and Brad, and Deputy Chief Daniels had a good meeting with Flock and to answer some of our own questions and some of the questions that have been posed by members of the public. So, I just wanted to give kind of a briefing on what we heard there. In no particular order, the main thing that we have deployed from Flock in this town are license plate reader cameras, LPRs, automated license plate readers.

Their primary job is to just look at license plates and detect the license plate of the car and put it in a database that can be searched. They also have the capability to do vehicle fingerprinting so if somebody is witnessing a crime and they say it was a white truck with a rack on the back and a green door or something, you can put that in and it will try to find vehicle characteristics as well not just the license plate number. We were told in no uncertain terms, and I just bring this statement as I was told that Flock has never and will never integrate facial recognition into its product. I make no judgment on that statement. I am just throwing it out, that is what they said. A couple of things that the city can do to address some of our concerns. We can opt out of provisions in the contract that allow our data to be sent up for training of their machine learning model. We can also opt out of certain sharing procedures. There is an overwriting provision that they have in a lot of contracts that allows them to share data in emergency situations and what defines that and who defines that is kind of unclear and that is a provision that other cities have opted out of and I think that Brad is looking into that as well. They will not of course let us audit their source code. I think I knew the answer to that going into the meeting, but I did ask. They do have an external security audit, and they have offered to let us see the results of that but we wouldn’t be allowed to do our own because they are not actually things that we own.

They have no plans to integrate an on-premises storage option so if we continue to use the system from that specific company, we use it on their terms and we are just leasing it from them. We have as much control as they claim that we do in their contract and to that end I did ask, the incident was not too recent but the reporting on it is recent. In Mountainview, California people might have heard that despite the city’s wishes Flock shared their data with other people in the nationwide, not a surveillance network. But their response to that was well, the city wasn’t actually a client at the time and so it was a demo system, and they didn’t have contract we can do whatever we want. That plus some of the other vibes of the meeting left me feeling uncomfortable. I am a technology person. I am very pro-applying technology to community safety and doing so responsibly but I will say that I did come out of this meeting not entirely comforted. I do appreciate everyone’s time who put it together and for the representatives from Flock for coming out, over the Zoom meeting to help us answer these questions.

All that said it think another thing that came up a lot today that I just wanted to reiterate is that I also see community safety in those kind of more holistic sense and I want to make sure as how we are doing projects we are doing things to lift up the community, fix as much as we can, sources and problems associated with poverty, addressing root sources of crime to that end and part of that is also police and enforcement. That is definitely not be all end all. It is something that I do take very seriously is the holistic nature of that.

Finally, completely different and much more positive, from the Art Board meeting last week I mentioned the call for artists from before, the Chalk Walk is happening March

14th at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. between the Branigan Center and Museum. If you have time come out and see what our local artists are up to that day and support them and see the cool stuff that they are up to. 10.4 COUNCILOR MUNOZ I want to take this time to thank everyone who came out and provided feedback. I think that is important. When we talk about things going into discussions with an open mind and a mind of curiosity. I think we learn from those conversations. I have had thousands of employees from before and I got feedback almost every 30 minutes and that’s important. Sometimes we change our mind, sometimes it invalidates what we decided. When I look at the GRT discussion I look at how we provide value. The

Mayor often talks about value from a constituent perspective and so I am looking at how we provide the best value to our constituents and so I am looking forward to additional discussions. I appreciate again the staff who is still here and hanging with us and those citizens that came out and provided various feedback on various topics that you bravely the wind out there as you know we have five seasons in New Mexico, summer, fall, spring, winter, and wind.

The other piece I want to do is thank Christine and the staff, everyone who contributed to the visit to the legislature as it wraps up, seems like we are getting some really good traction. The preparation, the contributions that you made to the organization. The timing of it was very positive. There is about 106 municipalities, 33 different counties, and other groups. We are all competing for much needed funding for our city, for Las Cruces. I think you all that prepared and provided information for those who attended was very well appreciated and very well received. Thank you to

Christine and everyone who organized that and the staff. I also wanted to express my gratitude and appreciation as the event at the Walmart happened, I definitely feel for the family of the person who was terminated. At the same time, I also am grateful that the police officer who was shot at came out of that situation safely as well as well as no other innocent citizens or bystanders were injured. I also wanted to thank and please share this Chief Daniels with your firefighters, two firefighters who were injured as we have had a rash of fires recently and hope for their speedy recovery and thank them for their service.

10.5 MAYOR ENRIQUEZ I want to say thank you to everybody that came out today and spoke on behalf of GRT and I said from the get-go that it was going to be challenging but it is a good thing and again thank you to the voters who said yes. That was first and foremost. I should say

that was second. The first thing we did was we sent out a survey to see if that would be something that we would move forward with and a lot of that survey came back with what everybody is talking about. It was about public safety. It was about parks, infrastructure, our roads, quality of life and that is why we proceeded with putting that question on the ballot for an increase on the GRT. So, we had a survey, we had the ballot. We had some public meetings, and I want to say we also have calls. The police calls that they respond to. The fire calls that they respond to, so we have got over

200,000 calls. That’s a voice in itself of what is needed in this community. So, we are looking for safety. We are looking for the infrastructure, and we are looking for a quality of place. Trying to balance that out with state funding, with federal funding with now the increase in the GRT and our general obligation bond, it is a challenge. We are not going to make everybody happy, but we are listening. We are taking care of the things that have been neglected and we are looking forward to have a better quality of life. That is where we are headed and I say this as we all agreed on one thing and we hear it from constituents all the time is what are we doing for our youth in our community, they are our future and we are working towards that and I think myself and all of council agreed that we need to put more efforts, more energy in and even more money towards things for our youth and our community. So, we will keep working at that and we will keep listening.

11. CITY MANAGER REPORT 11.1 IKANI TAUMOEPEAU I want to thank Audit for managing our contract with OIR. They just wanted to make an announcement that OIR Group will be here on Monday, February 23rd to present their 9th Semi Annual Police Audit Report to council.

Parks & Rec’s update, the department will be offering a one-week spring break camp during upcoming LCPS intersession running from Monday, March 16th through

Friday, March 20th to accommodate as many families as possible we will operate at two locations. Jornada Elementary and Frank O’Brien Papen Community Center. The camp is open to children in kindergarten to fifth grade and offers a full day of engagement from 7:30 a.m. till 5:30 p.m. I thank staff for managing that, at affordable prices, $20 per child. Participants will enjoy indoor and outdoor play, arts and crafts, games and daily breakfast and lunch. Registration officially opens at 8 a.m., February

17th and will conclude at 5 p.m., Friday, March 6th. So just wanted to say kudos to our Parks & Rec staff for making that happen. We have had the opportunity to visit with them just a bit and it is just magic what they do. Thank you, staff and Parks &

Rec, for keeping up with the great work. I would like to highlight the ongoing efforts of our Community Forestry and Park’s staff who are hard at work for several tree planting initiatives aimed at increasing shade and beautification throughout our city within the last three weeks staff has successfully planted 100 trees. Building on that momentum staff is currently in the process of planting an additional 40 trees along

Northrise. These efforts remain a vital part of our commitment to enhancing the city’s canopy and improving the quality of life for our residents in these high traffic corridors.

Economic Development, yesterday NMEDD, New Mexico Economic Development

Department announced Las Cruces Innovation and Industrial Park as one of its first five strategic development sites to be designated throughout the state site readiness

program marking a milestone in statewide efforts to prepare competitive investments ready locations for economic growth. Each site was assessed for infrastructure, utility access, workforce considerations, development capacity and alignment with long term economic priorities. This designation allows the city to be eligible for predevelopment funding, and now can I get a drumroll please? Today the industrial park was given a platinum designation through the Ready Sites Program. This is the first standardized nationwide way to evaluate how prepared property is for development with five different levels ranging from emerging to platinum our industrial park is the first designation in New Mexico and the only fourth platinum designation nationwide. In the designation it was stated that Las Cruces has set a high bar for New Mexico. Great job Elizabeth Teeters to you and your staff, please pass along our appreciation.

Last announcement, you may see that Brad Douglas looks a bit different today. Brad is actually in federal court handling a high priority case for us and we have Michael

Reyes. He is an Assistant Attorney, one of our Assistant Attorneys and he has been with us for months and I would like you to know him a bit more so if that is okay

Michael share a little bit about yourself.

Michael Reyes, Assistant City Attorney said I have had the pleasure of working for the

City’s Legal Department now for four months led by the great Attorney Brad Douglas and also Henry Becker as well. It has been a really easy transition working with these fine gentlemen because I see a progress right now where they are making the office very strong and I am just happy to be a part of that as well. I am not from Las Cruces, but my wife is. She is born and raised. I have lived here now for four years, and it is really an honor for me to live in this city and work for the city so thank you everybody.

12. ADJOURNMENT 12.1 City Councilor John Munoz moved, seconded by City Councilor Michael Harris, to adjourn at 4:00 p.m.

Mayor

City Clerk