City Council Meeting January 21, 2025 MINUTES City Council Tuesday, January 21, 2025 @ 1:00 PM City Council Chambers, City Hall PRESENT: Mayor Eric Enriquez, Councilor Cassie McClure, Councilor William Mattiace, Councilor Becki Graham, Councilor Johana Bencomo, and Councilor Becky Corran ABSENT: Councilor Yvonne Flores 1. OPENING CEREMONIES 1.1 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - COUNCILOR MCCLURE. 1.2 PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION/PROCLAMATIONS - COUNCILOR MCCLURE. Mayor Enriquez introduced the Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Ignacio Ruiz and Thrive with Cariño Program in conjunction with the City of Las Cruces and shared a video. 1.3 JOBS OF THE WEEK. Sarah Raney, New Mexico Workforce Connections 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 Lucas Herndon, Member of the Public said I am a resident of District 2. I have spoken before you many times but today feels especially hard and dire. Our community has always been special and close. A part of what I love about living here and raising my daughter here is the sense of no matter where I go it is likely that we will run into a friend or neighbor but the larger existential threats that we face now under the current federal administration are based on dividing this community and thousands if not millions just like it around the country. When the current President took office in 2017 my daughter then in elementary school, the day after the inauguration many students weren’t at school. Those kids and their families had heard about potential raids by the military forces of ICE and Border Patrol. This week she brought that up to me and then just yesterday during the inauguration she brought up that as a high school student she was dealing with the potential loss of a friend whose family was seriously considering moving because of the President’s threats towards queer and gender nonconforming people. Additionally, someone I love is affected by proposed changes of federal rules about names and gender identities on official documents. These actions aren’t about uniting us as a people but rather as driving wedges between us. If we are divided, we are easier to control, easier to manipulate. I am here today to ask this council to remember your commitment to community the next few years to a Constitution supposedly derived to ensure life, liberty and happiness to all without prejudice or proof of birthplace or name. The Las Cruces I know is inclusive not divisive. Please work for that. Elizabeth Gutierrez, Member of the Public said I live in Las Cruces. I think we all know the animosity that Donald Trump has towards immigrants, and we got to see the start of that yesterday and I am here to ask the councilors and the Mayor what our city is prepared to do when our friends and neighbors are getting rounded up. When the people who built our homes, who cook our food, who take care of our children, who take care of our elderly, who clean our homes are at risk and I think I want to know as a citizen of Las Cruces, a proud citizen of Las Cruces. I have lived here since 1973 and have great faith in our city government. I want to know what we are prepared to do to protect people who have lived here probably as long as I have. Earl Nissen, Member of the Public said I live in Las Cruces. For the past six weeks I have been accompanying Mrs. Yolanda Diaz to many appointments to discuss the turn away of patients at Memorial Hospital. This included visits to the acting director of Memorial, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of hospitals. From all these visits we gained the fact that there has been a lot of confusion between employees who are doing the admissions of patients that the primary group that has had some problem are the indigent. So, we met with Jamie Michaels, and she is going to prepare in service for these employees so that uniform qualifications are being looked at for anybody walking into Memorial. At one of the meetings Mr. Knox, who is the acting director now said that there would be nobody turned away during his watch. Two weeks later a woman was turned away and she found Mrs. Diaz who helped her get registered for cancer care at Memorial. So, we are still having, apparently having some problems of turn aways that we don’t know of. So, the point being that the leadership of the hospitals should be doing more with employees about making sure that everything is done right with the admissions. In all our researching the problems we want to make it very clear that no nurse or doctor caused any of these problems. Nurses are feeling really bad about having their hospital number 5 in the worst egregious things in the United States. I don’t know if any of you saw that article? Robert Lee Butler, Member of the Public said Bill Mattiace you have my vote. Mr. Story, N-A-S-A, he is going to the moon. Elon Musk has a death wish. Alright, I am going to start with my introduction, and I will end on a positive note, I promise. Now you are all doing a good, good job the bad people in Las Cruces are in City Hall. The wedding will be at University Community Church. The reception will be at the Convention Center. You can thank Kenny Miyagishima for that. We are going to have 15 plus people, no gifts are required. We have a lot to celebrate in our city. You have the patent and I have the copyrights. Gloria Molina, Member of the Public said I am here with Mesilla Valley Public Housing Authority. I have made copies for the councilors, this is just a notice in case any of you don’t know or haven’t heard our Executive Director submitted his resignation and his last day will be February 20th. So, we are in the process right now of putting out a job position for somebody to be our next leader. As all of you know, housing is a big crisis here and this is a really big position to fill. We are putting together a Community Advisory Committee. We have one of the County Commissioners on it. We would like to invite one of you to be in on it to help us with the interviews and then we also have Nicole Martinez from the Community of Hope and a couple of other people as well. This is a really big deal getting our next Executive Director to make much needed changes and somebody preferably with grass roots. So, this is kind of an information thing that I had sent out to the Mayor and just letting you know. My card is there if you have any questions, or you would like to sit on the committee with us we would really welcome a representative from this city office. We have put out the job description and we have just gotten a very small response. Amy McCarty, Member of the Public said I am the Executive Director of the Las Cruces Public Schools Foundation. So, it is kind of funny that we are here today as you recognized the Superintendent and the collaboration with the city but our main focus, we are a nonprofit organization led by a group of community volunteers as a board and our goal is to support teachers and students of the district through grants and scholarships. We also have a big fundraiser coming up of which we definitely appreciate the city’s collaboration. Mayor Enriquez was the winner of our Golden Tortilla Rolling Contest last year. He will award and crown our new winner after our event on February 7th and two additional rollers that we have this year are Chief Story and Chief Smith. So, thank you all for what you do and thank you for supporting our foundation. I left brochures to explain a little more about what our foundation does as well as invitations to our event. So, we hope that you will consider joining us. Abigail Solitzivan, Member of the Pubic said I have been a constituent in Las Cruces ever since my family and I immigrated to America. From the 17 years that I have lived in this community I have made so many memories from experiencing the cold for the first time, still not a fan of it to watching my mom become a US Citizen at the Convention Center, to receiving my undergraduate at NMSU to now continuing my education as a counselor. I chose the path of counseling for many reasons. One of which is to advocate for the marginalized and the oppressed, to advocate for those whose voices are either not being heard, ignored, to advocate for those who are not able to advocate for themselves and I hope to do that here. I ask of you council to please do the same and to protect and serve everyone in our community. To not abide by the anti-immigrant, racist, anti-trans, anti-LGTBQ+, anti-health care to all, anti-family, anti-human rhetoric that is increasingly heightened in the administration that would affect me, my friends, family, and the community. I ask that everyone in the community is able to live the life that they rightfully deserve just as my mom has, just as I have. Let’s focus on what is actually important in our community, affordable housing, health care services, climate justice, infrastructure, workforce development, education and so many other programs for the wellbeing that New Mexico so desperately needs. While I am up here advocating for those who are not able to, I would like to amplify the voices of Palestinians who are being murdered by our tax dollars. Even after the cease fire has taken place. I would like to take this time to read a poem by Nour El-Din Haggan, a Palestinian Poet who was killed by an Israeli air strike at his home. “I am not a number and I do not consent to my death being passing news. Say too that I love life, happiness, freedom, children’s laughter, the sea, coffee, writing, Fairuz everything that is joyful though these things will all disappear in the space of a moment”. Jovanny Hernandez, Member of the Public said I am the Southern New Mexico Base Building Manager for the New Mexico Dream Team the state’s largest advocacy youth led immigrant organization and I would like to share some words with you. I live and work in Las Cruces, New Mexico and I don’t need to restate or overstate the event that occurred yesterday with the inauguration of President Trump. Instead, I would like to share how these far right policies would and will affect my family and my friends in terms of immigration. My family are immigrants, my friends are immigrants. Many of them are undocumented and mixed status families like mine. When I think of the executive orders that were signed yesterday signed by Donald Trump encouraging mass deportations, threatening sanctuary cities and harming our communities who live here I cry. In terms of the anti-queer agenda, many of my best friends are queer, nonbinary, transgender and I am proud to call them my friends and I will work everyday to make sure that they feel safe in my presence and in my community. Those friendships and their very lives are at stake under this administration. In terms of the border, I have family that lives on both sides of the border in Juarez and El Paso, up and down the Mesilla Valley, in Sunland Park, in Anthony and into Las Cruces. Already I hear that the border is closed in El Paso and that people are unable to travel. How will I see my cousins? How will I see my great uncles? How will I see my dad’s brother who is currently in the hospital and will die soon? I want my city council to know that I stand against mass deportation, against queer discrimination. The values of a fascist Trump administration that our not our values and they are not the values of this city or the city council as I know it to be. I will tell you Mayor and city council members that this community is activated, we are organized, we crave bold action that is rooted in community defense and community care. We are ready to support a city council that has those same values. I ask that you develop creative solutions and bravery as our elected officials to do what you can and what you must to keep our city values. Work with us and we will work with you. The progressive left is organized and ready to fight back against far-right elements in Las Cruces and in New Mexico. We are your voice here in the public and you are our voice in the city government. Hannah Heard, Member of the Public said I am a constituent of Las Cruces. I would like to use my time today to speak about the safety of myself, my friends, and everybody in Las Cruces, everybody in the United States who are facing large threats currently and have been and it’s been upscaled in the recent years especially now after the inauguration. I feel that it is very important for all of you to uphold your duty as our voice to protect us and those who do not have a voice from the harmful policies that are going to be put in place and are already have been put in place. It is extremely scary. I have been scared to get up the last two days. I have many queer friends, many undocumented friends, immigrant friends and I am worried constantly and that is only going to continue. I have been very public about the protection of immigrants and Palestinian rights and LGBTQIA+ rights and I just ask that in these times that you will continue to uphold and work with our community in order to make sure that these things don’t go away, that we are protected and that we actually try to create good change in Las Cruces. Guillermo Canaway, Member of the Public said I am here to lend my support amongst other people who feel that their own rights and their ability to feel secure in themselves are at danger. We have been told we are at danger because of our now current President, and we need the assurances that we can find that safety in this community. We have the tenants to be that safety and security it is just continuing to maintain it and make sure it can’t be shaken. Alongside making sure everyone whether we can hear them or not is able to continue being supported and being secure in being allowed to exist basically and most certainly that comes from upholding queer rights, helping the people who are threat of deportation alongside not even to mention trans people who are having so many rights taken away from them. It was a run, sprint trying to get their own identities recognized before Trump took office yesterday and now we are in the post of that and I hope we are not in a place we are in the post for a lot of things and I hope that us as a community can maintain that we can make a safe world, a kind world and that is also through recognizing everyone who has the ability to bring beauty to this. That includes people being hurt in Gaza which the investment into anything that can go in towards that is one of the major helps but that is also towards supporting our queer people and that also goes towards also decriminalizing homelessness. We have mentioned before that housing is a major issue right now. By the time we hit the bottom of that as individuals we are left on the street and we just can’t be left as people who cannot support ourselves or even support our communities because all of us can do great things for this wonderful city and continue to do so. Sylvia Yency, Member of the Public said I am a resident of District 2 in Las Cruces. Around four years ago I moved down here from Alaska in search of a more progressive and safe area to live. Growing up I feared for my rights and my safety as a gay woman in a very conservative part of the country. Unfortunately, I gained many of these fears at a very young age. There are protections that keep me safe such as abortion access, anti-discrimination laws, and equal marriage. While I have the privilege to live in a state that offers these, I am scared of what is going to happen in the near future. I am scared for my immigrant friends, my queer friends, my friends of color and other minority communities in Las Cruces and the rest of the country. I hope that I can count on you all, my elected officials to help keep these protections that we have in place and to keep fighting for vulnerable groups in Las Cruces. Rio Lopez, Member of the Public said I am here to support my students as well as New Mexico Dream Team Chapter which organizes and supports a lot of our migrant students not only at NMSU but throughout the city at our different schools. I was also asked to read a statement on behalf of Tatiana Prieto from the ACLU. “We are thankful and proud to stand with so many incredible partners and elected champions who work tirelessly to protect and advance the rights of New Mexicans including many in this room. The mission of the ACLU of New Mexico has always been to protect and advance justice, liberty, and equity as guaranteed by the Constitution of New Mexico and the United States. The ACLU stands with our immigrant communities. The ACLU stands with our LGBT+ communities, with our indigenous communities and proudly stands with all New Mexicans. The ACLU is committed to fighting attacks on autonomy, freedom of speech and any discrimination based on immigration status, economic status, gender identity and sexual preference. The ACLU has a commitment to fight in courts, in the legislature and in our communities to ensure that New Mexico remains a state where all people belong and are respected. The ACLU plays a long game, they have been around for 105 years, have seen 19 presidents come and go and will have activist supporters across the state making sure that civil rights and liberties are respected, thank you.” Rose, Member of the Public said I am a lifelong resident here in Las Cruces. I am here today to emphasize the importance of coming together as a community to support our most vulnerable populations, the unhoused, undocumented, LGBTQ+ community. I think it is important for our community to have access to gender affirming care and medical care for woman’s health both of which have had suffered setbacks in other parts of the country and instead of punishing people for their vulnerabilities we must hold our systems accountable for failing to provide the necessary protections for those who need it the most and going forward by ensuring that the everyday people keep us safe and those of you in power know that the people will always fight for our rights. I would like to take moment of silence to the men, women and children, teachers, artists, doctors, and journalists who have been killed in an ongoing genocide in Palestine. Lynn Moorer, Member of the Public said I formerly practiced environmental law in Nebraska. At your December 2nd meeting I requested a briefing at a city council meeting on EPAs new Lead and Copper Rule with experts allowing ample opportunity for questions and comments from the public. Since you still have not yet scheduled such a briefing I want to awaken you to an important technical issue. The centerpiece of the briefing that council received about the new rule at its November 18th meeting, a briefing that did not allow opportunity for questions and comments from the public was a water meter box. It was explained that checking this box holds the key to knowing what material any service line is made of, whether lead, copper, galvanized iron or steel or some kind of plastic like PVC. EPA says this method may be used if it is accurate. As EPA recommends, I checked with six licensed plumbers in Las Cruces about this technique of merely checking the water meter box and looking at what the pipes in the box appear to be to determine what the entire service line is made of. Not one of these plumbers thought much of it. They consider it a deficient technique. Some said that it is preferable to snake a camera up the pipe to get a good look at the entire length from its interior. Others said they would dig a trench along the pipe in the ground to get a look at all of its exterior. Some explained that a setter’s meter might be encountered that can fool regarding the materials used so it is necessary to dig down way below grade to determine what the pipe is. Moreover, EPA says that some service lines may be lead lined pipes. These pipes appear to be non-lead on the exterior, but their interior have lead lining. The point is just looking inside the meter box isn’t sufficient. You need to look farther. Based on the website information the cities of El Paso, Dallas, Lubbock, Houston, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, and Tucson do not rely solely on checking the meter box as our LCU people recommended. Tucson, Houston, and Amarillo do test holing inspections which involve digging two small holes near the meter to investigate the pipes. Oklahoma City asks its customers not to look inside their water meter box because of risk of damage to the equipment and because the private service line that needs to be identified begins approximately 18 to 24 inches away from the water meter. Based on this evidence it unfortunately appears that that there is strong reason to question the judgement of and technique used by the city thus far in locating pipes that need replacement. None of the six licensed plumbers I consulted would agree that any of the properties that the city has checked using the look at the meter box technique has been proven to be lead free as city personnel have asserted. Liz Rodriguez-Johnson, Member of the Public said I have numerous concerns about how the city is implementing the new Lead and Copper Rule. When six licensed plumbers in Las Cruces say that they have no confidence in the city’s decision to just check the meter box to find out what the service line is made of, that is a serious concern. This means that the city’s characterizations that no lead piping has been found are unreliable. It also means that the property owners who just check the meter box on their property using the same technique and report there is no lead are probably also unreliable. This is one of the many reasons that we continue to request a briefing at a city council meeting as soon as possible that allows significant opportunity for questions and comments from the public regarding the city’s implementation of the new rule. Plus, EPA materials say that checking your water service line can help determine if you have lead but they don’t say if it is a definitive way to find out. EPA says you have to have your water tested to find out for certain. This suggests that concluding as the city appears to be doing that there is no lead in the service line based simply upon checking the pipes regardless of the technique used is not necessarily true. EPA says water tests have to be conducted to know for sure. It is critical for all customers using the city water system to know whether they need to be testing their water for lead or any other pollutants. The city statements and materials don’t make this clear. This needs to be clear in English and in Spanish. There is still no evidence that the city has yet issued a letter in Spanish about the rule and what Spanish speaking customers need to do to protect their health. It has been a month and half since this issue has been brought to your attention and there is no evidence yet of a letter in Spanish or modification of the city’s website to provide all the information in Spanish as well as in English. I can’t understand how you fail to provide a full letter and website in Spanish in reliance upon any state template that says you have to. If it is the right thing to do, it is the right thing to do. New Mexico Environment Department itself says it does not have primacy with respect to enforcing the new rule. It is the Federal Government who has the final say. The city’s website still needs to be more complete, understandable, and up to date. It is still confusing and out of date. Numerous other cities in the southwest have more complete and understandable websites regarding the rule. This needs to be remedied right away. Liz Bennett, Member of the Public said I am a resident of District 4. I am here to remind the council and the public of what we stand for as a community while we experience another historic rise in authoritarianism. In November of 2021 the Las Cruces City Council passed Resolution 22-059 which declares Las Cruces as a diverse and welcoming community and friendly city to all immigrants. The resolution goes on to detail the vast and essential cultural and economic contribution of the immigrant community in our state and county. In December of 2017 this council passed Resolution 18-075 reaffirming city of Las Cruces commitment to creating a quality place to live and work through nondiscrimination in all areas of city government and declaring the city a welcoming community. This resolution reminds us all that LCPD employees are not authorized to detain or arrest any person solely based on their nationality or ethnicity. I would also like to remind us all about what our state has done to preserve the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community including House Bill 7, the Reproductive and Gender Affirming Health Care Freedom Act which protects access to abortion and transgender hormone therapy throughout the state preventing local bodies from blocking access to these services. Additionally in 2013 the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the State Constitution requires that same sex couples be treated equally under the law. While we have worked hard for these measures, some symbolic and some legally binding, there is still much work to be done to create the safe, just, and sustainable community that we all hope for. I am here to implore all of you and all of us as a community have the courage and commitment in the face of tyranny as we stand in solidarity to protect black, brown, and queer lives as we work to decriminalize poverty and as we fight for environmentally equitable and sustainable present and future. Please join us in this work. Sarai Guererro, Member of the Public said I currently live in District 1 but I have lived in Las Cruces my entire life. My parents are immigrants from Torreón Coahuila, and they came here for the sole purpose to give a better future for me and my siblings. With the upcoming Trump administration, I am terrified for the rights and the livelihoods of my mother, my father, and my siblings as well as my friends and other community members who have the same identities that I do. I am also terrified for the queer community in Las Cruces because I have grown up and lived here. I have lived from Highway 70 all the way down to Picacho Avenue. I know this city like the back of my hand. I also know how loving and caring with cariño as we say in Las Cruces, our community is and so I ask that you all work to strengthen the already enacted policies that we have as a city, whether it be at the police level, at the local municipal level like right now to help ensure that our communities actively feel safe and that they continue to be safe and secure. Citlali Delgado, Member of the Public said I am here today in community to ask that you hold strong against whatever horrific wave of violent, hateful, racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, bigoted laws and executive orders are about to be handed down from one of the richest, most corrupt, backwards and criminally convicted administrations in recent history. I am here to ask you to stop criminalizing poverty and to stop abusing folks who are unhoused, to stop pouring money into policing since that has been proven to a colossal, expensive and deadly failure, I am here to ask that you start taking care of our environment and enact policies that reflect climate justice. I am here to ask that you uphold human rights. I ask that you hold the line against mass deportation. I am here to ask that you work on divesting from carcerality and militarism and end your attachment to the violence in prisons and your addiction to throwing people away. I am here to ask that you divest from all corporation contracts profiting off the occupation of Palestine and join the international call for an arms embargo of the genocidal state of Israel. I am asking you to invest in education, health care and housing. I am here to remind you that most of us in Las Cruces know that community wellbeing is dependent on upholding human rights, immigrant justice, reproductive justice, climate justice, queer rights and gender justice, living wages, and housing for all. Clare Wallace, Member of the Public said I have been a resident of Las Cruces for 15 years now and I have come before this council today because I am afraid. Yesterday an executive order was signed which is President Trump’s way of defining biological sex which when you look at it actually legally defines everyone as female but aside from that I want to point out was what I did with most of my 2024 was work day and night to reelect our Congressman Gabe Vasquez to the US House of Representatives so, we would continue to have fair and just representation for the people of Southern New Mexico. At the end of that campaign when the results came in many members of the city council asked and you Mr. Mayor asked what they thought of the results. And something that you said Mr. Mayor that really struck me was that Yvette Herrell ran a great campaign. I would like to come and highlight that Yvette Herrell ran a campaign that spent much time demonizing trans people, demonizing immigrants, legal or otherwise, and making a very interesting claim that a lot of people on that side have made that 6 million people have illegally crossed the border which is a number that is unfounded. I am afraid when I hear things like this. I don’t think any serious consideration should be given to politicians who go up there and spend the majority of their campaign spreading hate and bigotry and I just want to remind everyone here on this council that the people of Las Cruces have a growing number of trans and generally queer people who are moving to Las Cruces. We have a great center here that was originally the St. Lukes Clinic, and it is now called Amador Health Center. That is the best place for trans health care here in Las Cruces and I want to see and be sure that is still supported by our city council. It is an important place and an important part of our community and it is important to support this community. I hope to see you all around at many events, I do stay quite busy and I hope you all take care and remember that we have a growing number of LGBTQ+ people who are moving here and are coming here because they seek to be protected. Dana Hopkins, Member of the Public said I am a resident of Las Cruces. I live about a mile from here and I am here as a board member of CAFé New Mexico, as a queer woman, queer mom, queer grandmother, as a mentor, supporter, sometimes shelterer of many, many youths. Some of whom are of mixed documentation families, many of whom are queer and many many of who are trans and I appreciate the shelter and comfort and safety, relative safety that these young folks have felt here and I hope will continue to feel here. I hosted a large gathering at my home yesterday because so many people are afraid and my house was full of folks, primarily trans folks who are frightened and are frightened about what is going to happen next and I also have the great honor and privilege of taking a lot of phone calls. Folks feel comfortable calling me when they are having a hard time. So, I can tell you that the number of calls that I am getting from trans folks, especially trans young folks who over the past month are thinking of taking their lives because they are terrified has grown. I would certainly hope, and I plead with all of you to continue the work with keeping our immigrant community safe, of sticking with the not enforcing of that agreement that we have with our Police Department and continuing to make this a safe place for our yes it may be growing but we have always been here, LGBT community. Cecilia Vargas, Member of the Public said I live within the border region of Dona Ana County. I am here to advocate for immigrant rights, and I am speaking as the daughter of an immigrant. I commend the city of Las Cruces for the commitment of upholding and protecting the rights of undocumented community of Las Cruces and New Mexico. I ask that you continue to ensure that these rights are protected and to join federal and state level efforts for a pathway for citizenship for undocumented individuals. Remember that these valued New Mexico undocumented immigrants paid more than $67 million in state and local taxes and generated more than $319 billion in business income. Again, I ask you to continue to ensure that immigrant rights are protected and to join federal and state level efforts with pathways for citizenship for the 60,000 undocumented New Mexicans. Robert Williams, Member of the Public said I am a business owner, I am a father. I am here today to talk about, I can’t say anymore then what has already been said. I stand with my brothers and sisters in solidarity. You are all leaders, right? I want you all to remember that as all these executive orders are put in place and remember that most of you are mothers, fathers, you all have children. Do what is right and do what is humane. Do what you would do for your kids. A true leader I believe doesn’t just take orders from people, they give orders as well and remember that. Especially you, Mr. Story, I am not trying to single you out, I know your job is hard and there is no Border Patrol agents to speak to but you are not the Gestapo. I know you try to do what is right and we appreciate you for that. I am not scared, I stay ready, that is why I am here today, to push back a little bit to speak to you all. I am a father of a son who is on the autism spectrum. He was with me earlier and was having a meltdown outside just a minute ago, so I am glad I got to come up here and speak. We need more protection for children like my son. I see a lot of things in the news that are going on where they are getting murdered because they don’t speak. My son is non-verbal. I would ask you, there is a story that popped up about a gentleman by the name of Mr. Hadley that was murdered in Mescalero, New Mexico because he had BB gun, and I believe he was murdered in cold blood. The police officer was afraid of a BB gun, non-threatening. I believe the kid could have some sort of intellectual disability. I don’t remember the whole thing. If you could look into that and make sure that person who murdered him, Mr. Hadley gets the justice he deserves because I don’t believe that if someone was laying on the ground that you should shoot them 11 times. Let’s all work together and make this place better. Athena Huckaby, Member of the Public said you may be used to hearing from me on the topic of the opioid crisis. I am here to talk to you about an even more devastating scourge on our community, which is alcohol. Today I come before you to ask you to adopt a resolution urging the New Mexico Legislature to create an Alcohol Harms Alleviation Fund, the AHA Fund for short. New Mexico faces a true public health crisis when it comes to alcohol. Our state has the highest rate of alcohol related deaths per capita in the nation. Double the national average. Every year 2,200 New Mexicans lose their lives due to alcohol related causes, as compared to about 950 overdose deaths. These just aren’t numbers. These are families that are devastated, communities that are impacted and lives that are cut short. The financial toll is equally staggering. Excessive alcohol use costs New Mexico over $2.2 billion annually. That is more than $1,000 for every resident in the state and while these costs fall on all of us they disproportionately impact our healthcare systems, our law enforcement and our local government. Essentially New Mexico taxpayers are subsidizing the alcohol industry meanwhile the taxes on alcohol in New Mexico haven’t been raised in 30 years. This is not sustainable. By creating an Alcohol Harms Alleviation Fund we have an opportunity to mitigate the damage alcohol does to our communities. Revenue from increased alcohol taxes can fund prevention programs, expand treatment options, offer harm reduction services, and support recovery efforts. Steps that would save lives and reduce long term cost for everyone. This resolution which I believe you all have a draft in front of you is not about prohibition or punishing responsible drinkers. It is about accountability and investing in public health. I urge the council to adopt this resolution and to send a strong message to the legislature that the time to act is now. Clarissa, Member of the Public said I have lived and worked here in Las Cruces for over 18 years. I have concerns about the systems we have in place to support individuals who need help in low income situations and food insecurity. Currently many of the programs such as SNAP or housing and the like are structured to assist families, not that that is a bad thing but when applying for certain assistance programs I have often been told I do not qualify for them because I have “no eligible children”. Despite having no children, I am still a person too and sometimes need help as well. It isn’t fair that in such a situation I was only offered $17 by SNAP in order to assist me with my food cost especially when I really needed the help. I just ask that we as a community can make strives for these assistance programs to be beneficial for both individuals and families and that is what I would like to see moving forward and we support our community as a whole. Phoenix Petraky, Member of the Public said I am here because I am concerned about the safety and the human rights of myself, my neighbors and my community in Las Cruces. I didn’t realize it at the time but I first earned the right to marry in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell and when I was dating my high school sweetheart. I transitioned in 2023. Nearly eight years together and despite being with the same person and being engaged to the same person that relationship is subject to scrutiny and my right to marry, my safety in public and my protection from discrimination are under threat. Moreover, I am not alone. Shortly after I moved here, I did work that took me all over Las Cruces. When you look like me many people feel safer telling you who they are. Everywhere I went I met people who felt afraid and betrayed in precisely the same way that I did. They were not just queer people and trans people yes but Jewish people, Muslim, African Americans, immigrants, and children of immigrants, women, all of whom were terrified not only by loss of their rights but of the hate and harassment promulgated by a select few in our city. These are you constituents, and they are losing faith in their future. This mistrust erodes the very fabric of Las Cruces. When we go in public we are afraid of attack by our neighbors. We have fear that the city will do nothing or worse that it will enable this behavior. The apartment next to me was robbed and I was afraid to speak to the police because I didn’t know if it was safe for a trans person to be known to be living in a certain spot by the police. In eight days, I have a court date to finalize my legal name change and I am not certain that the judge will rule according to the laws of New Mexico. We are members of this city and we want to provide for those we love and give back to the community like anyone else. Why then are we in a position where we much fear whether it is laws or law enforcement to protect our rights. Las Cruces needs public support for its community. Economic policy which protects our poorest and social policy which protects our most vulnerable and most of all we need public servants in every sector that put their oaths above a vitriolic and hateful few. I urge you to remember your oaths in the coming years and to those of you who have already had that courage, thank you. Trent Scribny, Member of the Public said I live in District 1 right now. I have lived here my whole life. My family has been here since before it was New Mexico. I have been working in health care here for about two years, home health and in the hospitals. During my time doing that I have worked with a lot of undocumented people who are among my most treasured colleagues. These people are taking care of your mothers and grandmothers. They are out there saving lives and making lives easier for people and they shouldn’t be scared to come to work and do that for us and beyond being my colleagues they are some of my treasured friends. Some of the people I care for most in this world they are undocumented or queer or transgender and there is no reason these people should have to walk around all scared and think that their city doesn’t have their back. Beyond the fear we are strong together. Our community is strong together and is ready to for you to push back against whatever the next four years brings but I have faith in the council. I have faith in you, Mr. Mayor that you will do what is best for the most people in Las Cruces. David Lamont Mooney, Member of the Public said I am here to express my fear and as well as the fear of many peers who cannot attend today. This fear for the coming years that our environment, institutions, bodily autonomy, and basic human rights will be under attack. In these years, please remember that this council needs to represent all members of this community regardless of their citizenship, race, ability, gender, sexual orientation, or housing status. Robert Sunoco, Member of the Public said I have been a resident of Las Cruces since 2009. I just wanted to be another voice standing in solidarity with so many of the people who have already spoken today and I don’t feel that this is business as usual and the new administration is presenting a not so slow implementation of fascist ideals and the dissemination of actual fact is filtered through in increasingly privileged and a homogenized voice coming from an administration and its billionaire fuelers and so if I had an ask I guess it is to urge this council to maintain the dialogues and the relationships that they have with organizations that are not only supporting the marginalized populations but are also able to disseminate a more accurate view of what is actually happening and who it affects to main accountability and not lose touch as a louder better funded voice of hate takes over. I am ill equipped to provide actual accurate facts of the policy implementations at this time but I know enough to know that the standard flow of info is changing and we need to stay in conversation with groups like CAFé Accion and the New Mexico Dream Team and any of these organizations that are helping to keep us together and as a functioning and caring city. My daughter turns four today and I am thinking of the friends and the family that are going to be there to celebrate her and support her and help raise her and most of them are under attack by the new administration and I think I have just realized recently just how large those numbers are and also just how present they have always been and the new policies that are going to be put into effect just make it easier to be a criminal and it just requires more money or privilege or more hiding by the endangered populations and I want to be on the same page as the rest of the world stage and I think time will show that and so I urge you all to please see past the noise and listen to the people that are trying to bring the community together. Bea Quinones, Member of the Public said I wanted to be short and brief because I saw my sisters and brothers here. I just wanted to show solidarity with my family, with my sisters and my brothers of Las Cruces. I also wanted to speak on how here we are one of the least educated states in the country. We are also in poverty and all of us who are looking at each other right now have worked together to get you in power, to give you a voice to ask for our voice to be heard. I am not only a queer individual here. I am a drag artist. I am also a disabled person. Lots of individuals that come here seek medical treatment whether they are coming from Florida or California because of arthritis, the environment just being better for their overall health and with that I want us to also protect the individuals that are here which includes homeless people, who include people who can be homeless at any moment due to income being so hard to find. I just do want to urge all of us that in the next four years with the uncertainty of what is about to happen that we forget niceties, we forget pleasantries because with the uncertainty of the political climate we have no idea about power. We have no idea about supplies, with hurricanes and fires what we need is kindness because our community needs to build stability within every individual who lives here. Whether they are someone like me, someone like you so I do urge us please to build a community within because the economy the way that we are wanting it will not grow. We cannot hide individuals with criminal charges. We cannot hide individuals by giving them labels that do nothing but put us in boxes and further us away from community. So, thank you very much. George Pearson, Member of the Public said I am Vice President of VeloCruces, a bike/pedestrian advocacy organization. Not long after the start of the new year we had sad news that a bicyclist was killed in a crash. There are not many details available but the bicyclist was in a buffered bike lane. Just looking at the crash site the vehicle driver may have been distracted. Humans are error prone, but an error should not result in the loss of a life. As in most cases there is probably no one single cause for this deadly crash but what we cannot do is just throw our hands in the air and say that there is nothing else that can be done. Some of you are familiar with Strong Towns Organization founded by Chuck Marohn. Chuck presented to council via a Zoom Work Session in January 2021 as part of your Budget Retreat. Strong Towns has been performing a crash analysis studio. The point of this is to investigate a crash without trying to assign blame but to see if physical changes to the crash site might have prevented the fatality. I ask for this and for any further fatalities that the crash analysis studio type report be made. This could include recommendations for changes to prevent a similar crash in the future. In this case there is already a buffered bike lane. Would a protected bike lane have prevented this death? Might a life be worth $2,000 or $3,000 spent on flex post? Maybe better lighting is needed at the intersection. Without an analysis these questions cannot be answered. We have had about a half dozen bicyclist fatalities in the past two or three years and a much larger number of pedestrian vehicle fatalities. Don’t we owe the families of these victims some answers? And don’t we need to learn that we can do better to prevent future fatalities? NMDOT sets goals to reduce traffic fatalities, and it is up to Las Cruces to do what it can to meet a Vision Zero goal of no traffic deaths. Jim Wilcox, Member of the Public said I serve on the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and I bring to you today a traffic report. It is actually a death notice. This is the notice of Roy Parra who was killed on our roads as Mr. Pearson had just pointed out. So, we are also talking as many people here about protecting the safety of our residents. I am not going to talk about the other committee members on the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, but I am going to talk about my experience. We have been asking for an Active Transportation Coordinator for years. The city has quit advertising that position. Now I can’t say that having that position filled would have prevented this death. What we do know is that position is charged with working for a safer cycling infrastructure for more safety for pedestrians. It has been two years since we had the last one. In the last four years we have had one person for one year. I don’t know what has happened with that position. Somebody is not following up. We have saved a lot of money not paying somebody when it has been budgeted. So, what is happening with that position? I also want to point out that BPAC, we have asked for these reports so that we can look at the reports and evaluate what could we do better in this community to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists? The response we got was interagency challenges. It is difficult to work across the board with other agencies and so we have had none and yet I have one right here. Now we had another person that had been here today and he is a person who relies on cycling to get around. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the internal confidence to come and speak to you today and I want to remind you people that there is many people in our community who’s voices aren’t heard because they are afraid to come here. They don’t have the skill set to speak. We saw many people struggle. The only reason I know some of my skills is I faced high school kids, the most difficult audience in the world. But I want to remind you that there are many people out there whose voices aren’t heard, and I am going to take these last few seconds, the rest of my time in symbolic speech in silence to remember those pedestrians/cyclists that may have been here in our community but are no longer here because we haven’t done enough. Yoli Diaz, Member of the Public said since 2021 I have alerted the City of Las Cruces council and since June 5, 2023, I have come to your meetings 15 times and I have alerted you to the fact that Memorial Medical Center has been wrongfully turning away cancer patients and not just cancer patients or effectively turning them away by illegally demanding payments upfront. You shouldn’t need to be reminded. This is a matter of life and death for many patients. As co-owner with Dona Ana County of the land in which the hospital sits City of Las Cruces has from the get go has the power to stop the breach of MMC’s noncompliance with its lease. Everyone within the city can do something about stopping this atrocity, councilors, mayor, City Manager and City Attorney. It has been about three and half years that I have been coming to you. Ignoring explicit calls for help and warning of noncompliance for any length of time is dereliction of duty but the city’s prolonged dereliction of duty has been appalling, inexcusable, and extremely troubling to countless residents. Both the city and MMC are supposed to be serving all the residents of Las Cruces. With respect telling us your feelings about this situation really doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t solve anything much less achieve compliance. As I notified all of you when it happened again in December 20, 2024. Four months after the city sent the notice of breach MMC turned away a 49- year-old woman diagnosed with breast cancer in the middle of the Department of Justice investigation. Like all MMC’s previous 12 or 13 denials of care of cancer patients that NBC reported and the countless number of unreported this never should have happened and although the advocacy of both Dr. Earl Nissen and I changed the course for this resident, what about the residents without knowledge or advocacy? As I recall at a press conference last July one councilor had said she had been having conversations for six months about levers available under the lease to force MMC to comply. We would like to know now six months after the press conference what levers have you identified? Has the city actually pressed any levers besides sending the notice of breach? That lever certainly hasn’t achieved compliance by MMC. The hospital has asked for more time and the city is holding little private meetings with them again talk is cheap. While the city is doing that MMC is turning away more cancer patients it should be welcoming with open arms and treating them in their time of need regardless of their ability to pay. What is the new deadline that the city has set for MMC? When will the city step up to the plate and actually use the power it possesses to enforce the lease and force MMC to provide cancer treatment to all patients as required. I urge you to do more than talk and at last, long last, get moving and take action. Maribel Salmon, Member of the Public said I just wanted to introduce myself as the new Family Engagement Associate for SCAN, Save the Children Action Network. I will be working in the community. I am assigned to Dona Ana County and we are going to go to the State Legislature on the 27th so if anybody wants to join me or sign up to help us out I will be staying until the end of the meeting. If anybody wants more information, I have flyers and all of that. We are advocating for children and specifically this time around we are going to go ahead and push for the career and wage ladder for our early childhood education workers. So, we really want to give recognition to all of those people that help raise our children. So, if anybody has any questions about it, I will be in the back. Chris Center, Member of the Public said I am part of District 3 I believe. I just want to speak about what has been on my mind since this past weekend because we went to the People’s March on Saturday and we were able to enjoy it and participate in that and one of the reasons why we participated in that is because of the fact that my job was being threatened because of the ridiculous TikTok ban that was being enabled by our legislator, by our like our President, anyone, everyone was not holding that so my livelihood was threatened by that and so one of the reasons why we did participate was that was taken away from us and then given back which is absolutely crazy. I also feel like it is necessary to talk about what everyone had talked about earlier is that it is so important for the community to be involved and to actually care for one another and put policies in force so that we don’t have to live in fear because I am scared. I am scared for my life. I am scared for my family’s life. I am scared for the friends around me because this is threatening. This is threatening to democracy. This thing is not good. I just have a bad feeling about it and I think it is important that we all recognize that this is not good. Keep fighting for LGBTQ rights. Keep fighting for the unhoused. Keep fighting for any marginalized group that lives here in Las Cruces because we need it and it is so important right now. Jeffrey Field, Member of the Public said I am a Las Cruces resident. That gentleman was right. Elon Musk has a death wish. Number two I appeared before council four times asking for a ceasefire resolution in Gaza. One of the council members here opined that it is really not our province to weigh in on this. Those weren’t the exact words, but it is close enough. We are going to find out if what I am about to tell you is your province. I am here to express my deep concern over Donald Trump’s executive order pardoning over 1,500 individuals convicted of participating in the violent attack of the United States Capital on January 6, 2021. This act of violence was a direct assault on our democracy and the values we hold dear as Americans. The individuals who stormed the capital that day sought to overturn the will of the people and undermine the very foundation of our republic. Their action resulted in the loss of life, widespread destruction and a lasting scar on the soul of our nation. We cannot and we must not forget the images that we say that day. Windows shattered, police officers attacked, and our elected representatives fleeing for their lives. That is why I urge this council to draft a resolution condemning this pardon. One which seeks to erase the accountability and consequences for those who engage in this heinous acts. Passage of such a resolution will send a clear message to our community and our state and our nation that we as a city stand united in the defense of our democracy and reject any attempt to undermine it. Valerie Barron, Member of the Public said I am a resident of District 3 and while many problems have been brought here today I would like to show my support for said problems and said fears. I am the daughter of both an African American and an undocumented immigrant and to say that every day I live in the constant fear that something will happen to my mother, or my father is a clear understatement especially with said executive order given today. All of you have families, all of you have either children, siblings, parents and with my mom being undocumented the act of her deportation was extremely traumatic to me as a child to have to go home from school and hear that hey you are no longer going to see your mom ever again from one of my older siblings. I know that for years to come it is going to shatter many children if we do not expand on the protection that we have. If we do not reenforce the ones that we have and expand on said protections. As a queer person I live every day with a fear that someone is going to disagree or even go so far as to hate my partner for not presenting as “feminine” or “masculine” as they should and that one day I will hear that something violent had happened to my partner. There are many more problems in the city than the not problems that we are addressing in the executive orders. Immigrants are not the problem, neither are queer people, neither are Palestinians, neither are the sick, neither are the unhoused. The problem is houselessness. The fact that we have to make three times the rent in order to even qualify for a one bedroom apartment is absolutely ludicrous seeing as both me and my partner combined income is about $2,200 we still do not qualify for a one bedroom house here in Las Cruces due to the fact that we have to make more than three times the rent and the average rent for a house like that is $1,200. I would like to thank you for all that you have done. Jim Hoerst, Member of the Public said I want to recognize the council for listening today. Did you notice how young the crowd was? Ordinarily I am an advocate for separation of church and state but today I want to talk about something different. I also want to point out that I am a member of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free who have found a home in America and in Las Cruces and my home is under threat. I also want to say that I watched the January 13th meeting. It kind of seemed like a trial except the judge and jury was the City Attorney and he also acted as the Mayor’s counsel. I saw a lot of witness testimony that was not under oath that was not challenged by an adversarial cross examination how it can be part of legal proceeding or a legal remedy for a crime I do not know. It seems that the Attorney General ought to require sworn depositions given under an adversarial environment. The Mayor can say anything he wants, about anything he wants if he is not challenged with a cross examination. Also there has been no statement explicitly saying who did what, when, where, why and how? The Mayor’s Office has not issued such a statement. Why not? Is there something to hide? It seems to me that the Mayor has a conflict. He has been accused of an illegal act. He will either disclose the facts or not. If the facts are not favorable to him, he has a conflict of interest. He will either say things that implicate him in an illegal act, or he won’t. I don’t know how the Mayor can go on protecting his right not to incriminate himself and disclosing information. That seems like a direct conflict. So, I am trying to figure out how the city intends to repair its reputation for an honest open government. Fred Miller, Member of the Public said I watched the inauguration speech yesterday. There were two things that came up in the new President’s inauguration speech yesterday that bothered me. They kind of tie into each other. One a lot of people have already addressed. This policy that there is only two genders, or two sexes. That is not based in reality. That is not based on biology or psychology or sociology. It seems to come from a specific concept of God which was also brought up in his inauguration speech that he wants to bring God into our government. That is an absorbed God. It doesn’t have a place in a natural world and I hope that we won’t go along with that up in the future here in Las Cruces we will keep our government separate from our Gods. So please no prayer meetings in City Hall and stuff like that. 4. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Councilor Becki Graham moved, seconded by Councilor Becky Corran, to accept the agenda as presented. RESULT: Carried MOVER: Councilor Becki Graham SECONDER: Councilor Becky Corran AYES: Mayor Eric Enriquez, Councilor Cassie McClure, Councilor William Mattiace, Councilor Becki Graham, Councilor Johana Bencomo, and Councilor Becky Corran 5. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 5.1 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 16, 2024. 5.2 SPECIAL WORK SESSION OF DECEMBER 17, 2024. 6. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR CONSENT AGENDA 7. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR DISCUSSION 7.1 RESOLUTION NO. 25-085: A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT THE CITY OF LAS CRUCES ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024. Josie Trevino, Comptroller introduced the topic. Chris Garner, Patillo, Brown, & Hill, LLP gave the overhead presentation. Councilor Mattiace said I just wanted to say congratulations to the staff. Thank you for the trifecta, quite an achievement. I believe you said three in the State of New Mexico? Chris Garner said correct. Mayor Enriquez said I also want to say congratulations to the accounting team, Josie, everybody for all the work you do. Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Becki Graham, to Approve Resolution No. 25-085. MOVER: Councilor Becky Corran SECONDER: Councilor Becki Graham ABSENT: Councilor Yvonne Flores 7.2 RESOLUTION NO. 25-086: A RESOLUTION TO AWARD A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR HYDRANT MAINTENANCE & INSPECTION SERVICES TO HYDROMAX USA, LLC, OF FLOWER MOUND, TEXAS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $255,250 PLUS APPLICABLE TAXES ANNUALLY, FOR A TERM OF FIVE (5) YEARS, SUBJECT TO APPROVED BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS (PROCUREMENT NO. 24-25-019). Virgina Barela, Buyer gave the overhead presentation. Mayor Enriquez said I know the importance of the ISO and I also know that this is Chief Smith’s last city council prior to his retirement and would like him to come up and say a few words and share with us the information of the ISO rating and the importance to our community. Jason Smith, Fire Chief said I want to start off by thanking our staff. Deputy Chief Sean Heck as well as our Fire Marshal who is sitting behind me, Michael Landavazo and of course our water system Deputy Director Ron for working on this contract. It took a couple of years for us to go through and get the funding and get out to RFP and actually go through negotiations which you really got to credit the team for because the original price that was responded to was something that was outside of our financial ability to award. So, they worked hard on getting this contract so that we could bring forward to you. On talking about fire hydrants, I think it is important to talk a little bit about history in the fire service. We have a nice nickname for hydrants, they are called plugs. Back in the old days when it was just a water line you would actually have a plug that was in the water line that you would remove and that is where you would sic your dalmatian to make sure that nobody else touches your water source and so they are called plugs. Unfortunately, over the last few years we have had plugs that have gone dry or that have not been maintained in the city that impact our fire operations during those times. Our fire engines carry 500 gallons of water and when we flow an attack line that is about 3 minutes’ worth of water. So, if your plug is dry, that is not a good think you want your water hydrant, your water system to be secure to have a good supply so that you can have. Nobody wants a plug that is ugly when you get on scene. When we are talking about the insurance services in our public protection classification we are an ISO 1X, which means we are a class one. The highest rating you can receive. The X means that anywhere outside of 1,000 feet our ability to fight fires is impacted negatively and that is the 1X and there are parts of the city that are outside of that thousand foot range for a fire hydrant. The ISO rating is 50% based on your Fire Department. That is our staffing levels, having four person crews, completing all of our training annually, making sure that we respond timely, that we put in an effective force on the fire ground within a certain amount of time. It is also 40% on our water utility and I will say that our water utility for most of our evaluations scores almost perfectly. This is the one area where we are lacking the last inspection. There are four total points. Roughly four that you can get on an ISO inspection, all related to the maintenance and the inspection of your fire hydrants so this RFP and awarding this contract will address it and we do expect an ISO evaluation probably within the next year. I do want to say that it has been an honor to serve our city as Fire Chief. Thanks to our personnel, our fire fighters, the rest of the city staff, it’s truly been an honor for 22 years to serve our city so thank you. Councilor Becki Graham moved, seconded by Councilor Becky Corran, to Approve Resolution No. 25-086. ABSENT: Councilor Yvonne Flores 7.3 RESOLUTION NO. 25-087: A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE FY2025-2030 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM. Cynthia Alamillo, CIP Manager gave the overhead presentation. Councilor Becki Graham moved, seconded by Councilor Becky Corran, to Approve Resolution No. 25-087. AYES: Mayor Eric Enriquez, Councilor Cassie McClure, Councilor Becki Graham, Councilor Johana Bencomo, and Councilor Becky Corran ABSENT: Councilor William Mattiace and Councilor Yvonne Flores 7.4 RESOLUTION NO. 25-088: A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE LA BUENA VIDA PARK PUBLIC ART PROJECT. Ceci Vasconcellos, Public Art Coordinator gave the overhead presentation. Councilor Graham said this is really beautiful work. I would invite you to come up and say a few words if you would like but I can also know how that can sometimes feel like a sentence. Kayla Blundell, Artist said I just want to say thank you to the selection committee and the City Art Board for approving me to be the artist for this and I want to thank you for your consideration for this project and I am looking forward to creating it and enhancing the space in that park. Councilor Graham said I just wanted to note, I looked at rendering 1 and rendering 2 and didn’t realize that we got both and I was like I really love the cactus, but I also loved the quail. Oh, we get both and great to have a representative of NMSU Art, my husband has a BFA in Ceramics. He is now a firefighter but that is what happens so thank you so much and thank you for sharing your gift with the city. Councilor Corran said I similarly just want to share my gratitude for this. Thank you for sharing your gift and I really wanted the quail too, so I was worried that they weren’t going to make but now I see that they are there and the babies are awesome. I also just want to speak of the durability factor which I know comes up often in these. I know that the color versus durability. I was really enlightened by the long conversation of what kind of paint can survive our desert climate and how it incredibly difficult it is to actually maintain a lot of the public art spaces so I just want to speak to the ongoing conversation and struggle that we have as I would argue climate is changing in ways which makes this even harder and so I just want to name that tension and also really appreciate that you found a way to create a beautiful sculpture that is also really durable and represents baby quail so thank you. Ceci Vasconcellos said if I can say thank you so much Chief Smith for always supporting public art at fire stations and I hope you will come back and see the final results of all these projects that we have been working on, so thank you. Councilor Becki Graham moved, seconded by Councilor Becky Corran, to Approve Resolution No. 25-088. ABSENT: Councilor William Mattiace and Councilor Yvonne Flores 7.5 RESOLUTION NO. 25-089: A RESOLUTION APPROVING A VACATION PLAT KNOWN AS THE PEACHTREE HILLS ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY VACATION PLAT FOR PORTIONS OF RIGHT-OF-WAY AND EASEMENTS LOCATED GENERALLY EAST OF THE CITY OF LAS CRUCES CITY LIMITS AND WEST OF SONOMA RANCH BOULEVARD IN THE METRO VERDE PUD AREA. SUBMITTED BY SIERRA NORTE DEVELOPMENT, INC. Adam Ochoa, Senior Urban Planner gave the overhead presentation. Councilor Corran asked I suspect what folks are wondering is does this mean that a road is imminently being built in this area? I am wondering what this means in this context and I was wondering if you can talk a little bit in terms of that? I know that it is on the plan but I am curious if it means next step in a development process or if they are totally unrelated by time. Adam Ochoa said this is the first step if you will to clean up that area for future development. We recently just took a final site plan and kind of takes this area into account when it comes to development of the roadways, Voyager Street out there eventually will be coming through this area so this right-of-way is kind of getting in its way if you will. This will clean it up and allow for Voyager to come through, another road that will from east to west that will intersect with Peachtree Hills, and it will eliminate that area that was designated as Peachtree Hills because Peachtree Hills has been realigned. So, it is really the first step of clean up and that is how we kind of explained it to the people out there. Additionally, on top of that the typical city right-of-way is 50 feet in width. In the Metro Verde area, they actually have different differentiating widths with design so since this roadway is a local roadway will be narrower they don’t need all that right-of-way so they can be taken into the adjacent tracks for future development as well. Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Becki Graham, to Approve Resolution No. 25-089. ABSENT: Councilor William Mattiace and Councilor Yvonne Flores 8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS 8.1 None. 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 want to thank everybody again for coming out and speaking. There are a lot of empty chairs here today, but I am hoping they will watch later and know that their voices are being heard. I want to say what a day yesterday. I heard and saw things things that disturbed me but unfortunately didn’t surprise me. Even with my privilege we had hard conversations at my house, and I know those conversations are happening here in Las Cruces and throughout the country right now. We are going to have hard conversations here at city council too and I just want to let you know that going forward to those who are afraid, I see you, I hear you, and I am with you. Our Cariño here isn’t just empty. It means something and it means that everyone is welcome here and it is our job to hold the line against hate. Last week I was lucky enough to meet with the Governor and that was kind of a wild commination of kind of trying to talk to legislators and having the time to kind of hash out what our priorities were for the city and seeing where they were going. Interestingly enough some of them got a little philosophical. Thank you, Nathan Small and Sarah Silva for getting a little philosophical with me and Jeff Steinborn and Joanne Ferrary, we had some new conversations about what public safety might look like as well. I caught Joe Cervantes at a corner bakery and thanked him for hopefully considering what we might need down here as well. With the governor it was kind of a surreal moment, everybody in the room stood and kept standing. I was there with Councilor Graham and we were like okay I guess we are not sitting so this is going to be really quick. So, my ask was what we already had on legislative priorities which is the library. Please consider what that looks like here and thankfully she was really stoked about that which yeah, me too. As you guys have heard on the dais a couple of times from me that is kind of my jam as well and she talked about how not only is it a safe space and I think we need safe spaces now. It is a place for workforce development, and she strangely also talked about the Dalai Lama and how the way to experience the world is through books and I would say also the way to experience the world is to hear what people have to say and I am glad for people coming today. So, I am hoping that there is ways for us to support public safety and the ways that she expressed briefly in our meeting and if we can also support Alcohol Harm. I think that is a great idea as well, I heard that earlier. I do ask that we get an update on Active Transportation. I saw that it is no longer published. I didn’t know that either, that would be good know and MMC as well. I think that we are trying to actively follow it, and I can’t without getting a bit of a report on that. 10.2 COUNCILOR GRAHAM Happy Opening Day to the New Mexico Legislature. To thank our representatives, personnel, staff and everyone up there who is representing us and supporting us and I am not going to be as eloquent as you set me up to be but the message that feels the most important to me in a philosophical sense right now and I say this not as an elected official but as a constituent is to please try to find spaces for compromise, for balance, for talking to folks that maybe that you wouldn’t have considered talking to before because I think if you look at the range of issues and challenges and opportunities that our state is facing, if there were only one answer everybody would already be doing it and I think the most again what I beseech you as a constituent representatives is please be willing to consider multiple paths, multiple voices and to just find some space around the table to perhaps not agree with one another but to understand one another. 10.3 COUNCILOR CORRAN The physicians that have been organizing around health care in Las Cruces legislative asks, other conditions related to heath care in Las Cruces will be having a townhall here in city council chambers at 10 a.m. on Saturday so folks who are particularly interested in that, this I think is focused on, I have not gotten the flyer yet but I think this is focused on providers and supporting providers in the community and it is organized by providers. So that will be happening this Saturday at 10 a.m. and then the other announcement that I have is we heard about the Mesilla Valley Public Housing Authority Executive Director position but there is also space for a board member and if you go through the city’s board and commission website you can actually apply to be a potential board member at MVPHA, the city has a designated board member space which is open now so that is seeking applicants through the city’s board and commission website which you can find lots of opportunities for contributing on that website. Going back to the philosophical question of where we are and what we are doing. I think it was really powerful to attend a lot of MLK events this weekend. To hear folks thinking about what operationalizing those ideas means and what does that look like and so I take that very seriously to heart and I did a significant amount of reading this weekend to learn more about how I can live the ethos of MLK. It has been interesting to see a lot of conversations about how 60% of people in the United States when he was doing his activism absolutely hated him and so that was sort of a reassuring feeling to think about how we perceive things and where people are willing to come from to talk about justice. So today is really heavy. I think we are all feeling it and feeling what is happening at a federal level, what the legislature opening up feels dissonant because all of this work is happening in one space, all of this other space is happening in another. Where can we be constructive, where can we lend our support to that, and I just want to say I am committing to this and I know my colleagues are committed to Las Cruces being a safe and thriving place for all but at a local level what can we do. We will be advocating for infrastructure that serves our city including cyclists and pedestrians and I think there is an exciting announcement I think will come in a little bit related to some of that effort in supporting innovations in housing and homelessness support, funding partnerships, everything we can do to adjust our housing shortage as city staff have been leaders in for a long time, advocating for health care and community safety both here and at the round house however those things shape up and I would add to this sort of this the conversation about Alcohol Harms. We are getting all kinds of requests to support certain types of legislation and I think as we consider those I think we are all here to lend our support wherever we can to the things that are going into the legislature that are really important. So, I think talking about Alcohol Harms is one of those domains and thinking about our own environmental health impact including electrification and clean water and so one item I just wanted to share, I serve on the Transit Advisory Board and last week we heard a really cool report and I did the math but I have lost the math since then so I will just give a quick update about what electrification has meant to the city not only in terms of our environmental impact but just to give you a quick summary and these numbers I heard at a meeting so I just want to contextualize them as such so just as a quick note in Las Cruces we currently have five electric buses and thirteen diesel buses. For just the month of December our bill for fuel was $20,900 and the bill for repairs was about $35,000. For the electric buses the total fuel charge which was through El Paso Electric was $1,700 and the total repair and maintenance charges were $135. So again I just want to speak to the city’s commitment that we have had for a long time to things like environmental health, clean water even if the federal government is not interested in pursuing those things our city is really committed and has been doing really good work on those areas but I also really want to speak at this moment to articulate the values that I will be striving for in addition and in particular trans folks I just want to speak to the solidarity of knowing and loving you trans folks in our community and Las Cruces your existence and identity as well as you extraordinary contributions to the city which I know are ongoing will be respected and valued as well your identity. And then immigrants, refugees, asylees, families of each of those folks who are now affected New Mexico just joined in the federal lawsuit to address the challenges to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. We are one of 18 states that is challenging that proposed executive order. You are our siblings, and we don’t have to have a family member or loved one or a person who we see as working for us that is an immigrant or a refugee, or an asylee or a family member of them. It is a basic human quality that we care about you and it is part of what we do here at the city and we owe you a fight for your rights and belonging. You contribute enormously to our community in an extraordinarily large number of ways and your existence among us is worth fighting for on every front and I am committing to join my colleagues and doing that in every way that we possibly can. 10.4 COUNCILOR BENCOMO To Chief Smith thank you. You will be deeply missed and so thank you for all of your work for the city and for your friendship and for being such a kind and graceful colleague. I want to take up the request that the Mesilla Valley Public Housing Authority placed here today about participating in those interviews. I would love to volunteer for that. I don’t know what kind of process we need to do for that but having worked with the housing authority and some of the challenges I would really love to participate in those interviews unless you want to then you can do that but if not, I want to volunteer. I did want to speak to some of what was said here today. First, I want to thank the NAACP for the honor of speaking at their events this weekend. On Sunday I shared a little bit about my story and the sinister choice that was in front of my parents after NAFTA passed whether they were going to stay in Mexico and work for an American company, pennies on the dollar or come to the United States as immigrants and what I wish I would have added I wish I would have said that it is not lost on me that there are people in Las Cruces, our neighbors, our constituents, they face every day face just as sinister choices about their daily lives, about how to pay for rent, how to pay for food, how to pay for childcare, how to keep their businesses open. Whatever it might be our people are facing sinister choices every single day and that should be our mission moving forward. Eradicating those sinister choices for our people and replacing them with opportunity and a chance to live in abundance and enjoy. We should not get distracted by hateful rhetoric and attempts to pin us against one another. In Las Cruces we should fight to live out our vision for our community because frankly attempting to live in the imagination of those who want to blame vulnerable communities for political gain feels exhausting. Living in the imagination of people who scapegoat immigrants feels exhausting. Living in the imagination of people who want to systemically harass trans and gay people, who want to police our bodies and deny climate change and cater to the ultra-wealthy. That to me feel miserable. Hate, deny, erase. That is a miserable imagination, and I do not want to live into it. In Las Cruces and in New Mexico we get to choose our own fate still. We still get to have choices. We still get to be the architect of our own vision for our own communities. Let’s fight to keep our community a welcoming community. Trust that I will not be shamed or scared into submission and I hope to my colleagues that you aren’t either. I also hope that you choose to love our people even harder in the face of what is to come, the next few years because I know very well that working to push people further into margins does nothing to better my own life and I will resist to live in that kind of imagination. Lastly, I want to make something very clear, Las Cruces is a welcoming city by resolution. The City of Las Cruces reaffirms that it continues to abide by its inclusive and non-discrimination policies toward residents irrespective of immigration status and citizenship. There is no plan to change this and if there is I will fight back against it and if anything, I will work to strengthen this welcoming city resolution. 10.5 MAYOR ENRIQUEZ What we have before us is a resolution with Alcohol Harms and what we would like at this time is to see if there is a consensus to move it forward. Yes, I think so, Christine that answers that. Just to add now just with legislation starting today we will see more resolutions coming forward whether it is in public safety and those things that we will address here in council and others that come up that maybe for immigration and support of asylum refugees and relationships with Mexico and things of that nature. We started out this meeting today with a great presentation I believe on building a partnership with our Las Cruces Public Schools in Thrive with Cariño and we believe that we are a city of cariño. We are a welcoming city so we will continue to work with whatever we need to do and whatever resolutions we need to continue the support and means to help those individuals here and work for our residence here in Las Cruces for everyone. Some good news I wanted to share is Congressman Gabe Vasquez through his office awarded us $61 million for road infrastructure. The Mesa Grande Highway to connect with Lohman. This creates an opportunity for housing, for development, for culture, for growth in our community and we want to thank Congressman Vasquez for that award and we look forward to all the opportunities that it brings forward. Another good news is that we had the balloon rally back in Las Cruces this past weekend. I just want to thank Visit Las Cruces for their work in bringing that back and creating events here in Las Cruces during that time. Finally, to Chief Smith I just want to say congratulations to your retirement. It was an honor, a privilege to serve with you. I know that when you first came into the department, even going through your academy, we all looked at you and said that is going to be a future Chief of Las Cruces. You have fulfilled your oath, and you fulfilled all of our expectations, we are very proud of you, thank you. Our conversations that we had working together was we not only moved the nozzle forward, we moved the department forward, thank you for continuing to do that throughout your career. May God Bless you and wish you all the best. 11. CITY MANAGER REPORT 11.1 IKANI TAUMOEPEAU I just wanted to start off responding to public comments. I appreciate Yoli Diaz coming in and speaking on MMC. I do appreciate the patience of council, and I appreciate the patience of public on MMC, and I appreciate Yoli keeping us accountable in reference to this weekend with Martin Luther King Jr. in observation of his birthday week. I do appreciate one quote that comes to mind is, “love your enemies but keep them accountable”, and I do appreciate that, and I just wanted to let everyone know that there are things that City Attorney, myself have been working with the county on we have been in discussions. There are things that we haven’t quite kept council with apprised as we are still working on but these are things that we plan to have better updates in 2025 to you all as council, so I appreciate your patience but again as we know accountability is huge for us and I plan to have updates to you soon. The City of Las Cruces has retained its own consultant in addition to our legal counsel, in addition to Brad so Brad is not the only attorney working on MMC. We have legal counsel and in addition to the legal counsel we have retained our own consultant in regard to ongoing matters with MMC. This consultant is experienced in the areas of Medicaid and Medicare and the Affordable Care Act and the safety net poll requirements. This consultant has extensive experience though the New Mexico Department of Health and will be assisting the city throughout the process of working through both the lease agreement and asset purchase agreement. We plan to have updates to you in the upcoming months and we hope to again be responsive to the accountability that is needed in all of our positions and especially with the lease and the assets purchase agreement which was made in the early 2000’s so please know that. The second comment regarding Lead and Copper Pipe updates. I appreciate Lynn in the public comment. I do want to make something clear so I will just share some responses to this. Staff and joint Utilities is working with Community Engagement Staff to schedule a community meeting that will be recorded. There has been a request to hold another council meeting on the Work Session which we will not. There will be a time when we will hold a Work Session, but we will move forward with a community meeting and that date has not been determined yet but when it is we will make the announcement. We did offer this idea but at this time it will be a community forum. We will host a council meeting when utility finishes a review of a current system and whether or not we have lead pipes then we will come back to council to provide an update. The update will also include any steps needed to mitigate any lead pipes. I do want to apologize to the community for not sending out the Spanish version. That is one thing that I will step in front of and apologize for not doing. The letter, the information for lead and copper is on our website. It can be translated to various languages and so that is something that is not being sent out but if there are questions about the letter and for it to be translated it is on our website and there is a button that can translate that to Spanish. I just wanted to make that aware of everybody listening. There is also additional information as well. On the website if you google City of Las Cruces lead and copper you will find additional information. In the meeting that we have coming up on a date to be determined for the community forum we will have experts to answer all questions at that time. Third and last comment regarding Active Transportation Coordinator, biking community we appreciate you bringing this up at public comment. It is very important, and I am sure there are concerns on why it was taken out. The reason why it was taken out is we are reviewing the job description. This posting and to the biking community and to staff understand that this job has been posted for a while, but we have not had viable candidates that have applied. We have reached out into the biking communities to see if they had any contacts that could qualify and what we have heard is that they did not know of anybody interested in the position as well. They said no. We have been trying, this has been posted for I believe over a year, year and half if not two years. This has been posted for a while, but we did take it off again reviewing with our consultant helping us to find if we are missing something whether it is in salaries or a tighter job description that speaks to this position. I just wanted to share an update on that. Once we have an update, I will share this to you council and we will reach out to the biking community as well and I will share an update here in public comment. Chief Smith, we appreciate you. It has been a pleasure. We have big shoes to fill. I was on your interview panel and I can say that I stand behind that you did great fulfilling the shoes that you did and I appreciate you in everything that, you and your executive team did moving forward so we have posted the position and whoever the new chief is they are going to have really big shoes to fill as well so thanks to you. We appreciate you Chief Smith, thank you so much. 12. ADJOURNMENT 12.1 Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to adjourned at 3:56 p.m. SECONDER: Councilor Johana Bencomo Mayor City Clerk