City Council Meeting October 20, 2025

MINUTES

City Council

Monday, October 20, 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, Councilor Becky Corran, and Councilor Yvonne

Flores

ABSENT:

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

APPRECIATION/PROCLAMATIONS - COUNCILOR FLORES. Mayor Enriquez recognized this year’s Veteran’s Parade Grand Marshals.

Councilor Flores presented Enrique Garcia, Ashley Echavarria, Sandra Day, and Ana

Ramirez with a proclamation for Lights on Afterschool Day.

Councilor Flores presented Nicole Black, Chris Ortiz, and Randy Montoya with a proclamation for Careers in Construction Month.

Chenyu Liu and Matthew Saenz from the Las Cruces Public Schools gave a presentation.

Javier Caltenco, US Small Business Administration gave a verbal presentation.

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 you have received considerable evidence that the City of Las Cruces is not complying with the Lead and Copper Rule. It is preposterous that the Utilities Director says she believes they are meeting all requirements. When concerns were raised about departmental activities she instructed staff to remove records and manipulate data. When deficiencies were noted publicly regarding the city’s false characterizations regarding installation dates in relation to the lead ban she instructed that all installation dates be disappeared. Some records say piping is non-lead based on installation after the lead ban but provides no record of the actual installation date. These characterizations have no credibility.

When deficiencies were noted publicly about the city’s inspections at the meter pit in manipulation of its inspection dates the Director instructed that all inspections dates be disappeared from the records. That the choices to hide incriminating information rather than fix the problem has potentially huge consequences for the city and the utilities services taxpayers rely upon. It also evinces an irresponsible callus attitude toward the most vulnerable water users in the city who may not understand the stakes involved and the implications for their health and that of their young children and unborn children. Water consumers in Las Cruces have a right to expect that the water they drink is safe and that the facts about city water management are not manipulated or falsified. The key issue of the city’s inadequate investigation technique, just looking in the meter pit must be remedied. None of these investigations carried out so far as reliable. They must be redone using techniques acceptable to EPA. One technique isn’t sufficient to determine reliably that the line is non-lead. See Handout 1. It is ironic that those of you who profess great concern for the less privileged in our community, especially people of color evince no concern for them and even the city leaves their mobile homes off of the inventory. Much less investigate their pipes. When Las

Cruces Utilities can’t be bothered to make sure Spanish only speakers know immediately how to translate the website into Spanish and when the Deputy Director of Regulatory Compliance falsely tells callers that there is no assistance available to folks that don’t have the financial resources to replace their pipes. We ask those of you who demonstrate cozy relationships with staff and parrot their falsehoods, who were you elected to serve? To those who haven’t studied or requested any of the additional documentation we presented demonstrating the validity of our concerns and proving the city’s pattern of false statements, we ask why not? One councilor said she just prefers to trust staff. That is not good enough. You were elected to serve ordinary citizens, the riff raff, the taxpayers of Las Cruces. You weren’t elected to avert your gaze from non-compliant substandard staff actions that harm the public.

Liz Rodriguez-Johnson, Member of the Public said our concerns persist with respect to Las Cruces Utilities’ substandard public outreach and lack of responsiveness to questions regarding the Lead and Copper Rule that have been outstanding for many months. EPA does actually require water systems to engage in robust factual communication with the community they are supposed to serve. Where are the answers to the questions we posed at the October 6th meeting? We asked that they be posted on the website. As of this morning no answers have been posted. We continue to expect answers to all of our previously annunciated questions plus the questions today to be posted on the website by the next council meeting November

3rd. EPA requires water systems to track lead connectors in their inventories and replace them when they are encountered. As you can see in Handout A, page 1.

Where in Las Cruces Utilities’ inventory are lead connectors tracked? None are evident in the online inventory even though investigation reports note that the presence of galvanized connectors exist on some piping. See Handout B. Keep in mind that the galvanized designation means there is some involvement of lead. How many galvanized connectors has the city replaced? Where do each of these replacements show up on the map if they are not in the inventory of the map, why not? The New Mexico Finance Authority which handled a $15 million grant for the

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund the city agreed to at the last meeting determined the amount the city must repay in part of the categorization of the city’s severely disadvantaged. How much of this $15 million grant will be used to specifically assist disadvantaged people in light of the city’s decision to disappear all disadvantaged community designations from the inventory, how is it determining who is disadvantaged, what are the criteria? Does Las Cruces Utilities intend to charge customers for the cause to replace any part of the service line? If so, how does the city intend to assist customers who are unable to pay to replace the portion they own?

EPA requires that the city spell this out, see Handout A, pages 3 & 4. Which water engineers at Las Cruces Utilities are fluent in Spanish? Which water managers at Las

Cruces Utilities are fluent in Spanish? Which water technicians who investigate pipes are fluent in Spanish?

Rod Gajewski, Member of the Public said I live in the county. The Mescalero Apache and the State Land Office are attempting to get 400 acres of landlocked land that is in the county but the traffic flow in the infrastructure involves the city. That is why I am here with the city. Council Member Mattiace would be responsible for the Las Alturas

Drive.

Lucas Herndon, Member of the Public said I am a resident of District 2. Once again in front of you in the wake of a deadly police killing in our city. I will take this opportunity to remind you that New Mexico is in fact the most dangerous state to be a civilian and be killed by police. We led the country last year and as of this year police have killed four more people in New Mexico through September in 2025, compared to the same period last year. Meaning once again we will be the most violent state to be a citizen and be killed by the police in the country. Las Cruces Police have killed at least four people in our city this year. You can talk about what justifies killing all you want, and the police have a standard operating procedure which the Chief has become very adept at repeating and parodying and the press loves to pick up. There is a member of the press here today that I generally hold in high regard and will assume that his editors chose the headline for his story because I personally feel that he is better at

his job then what the headline gives, that a man who was approached in his car by an armed cop yelling at him was “pursuing” that officer with a hammer. That man was sitting in his car and a man with a gun came to his door and opened the door. I am a certified firearms instructor in the state of New Mexico, if somebody that I taught was in an altercation and pursued the person pressing the issue to their car and opened the door they would be found guilty in a court of law. But not the police. The police, its standard operating procedure. So, if you are tired of me coming and yelling at you about the cops killing people do your job and hold the cops accountable for killing people but for now, I will take the uncomfortable stares and the whisperings. I will take the videos of me posted about me online. We are citizens of this country. The cops theoretically are here to protect us, not kill us. But as long as we live in this state that has the most likely outcome of an altercation with the police of me being killed by them, no, unacceptable.

Derrick Pacheco, Member of the Public said today I want to speak about accountability. Not only about how we protect our rights and our history but in how we uphold the rule of law itself. Over the past several months citizens like myself have worked tirelessly to uncover and document serious issues surrounding Project Jupiter, the proposed data center development. Through hundreds of hours of public records request, video documentation, and cross referencing county and state filings we have uncovered a trove of evidence showing a clear pattern of neglect for due process, missing documentation and potential conflicts of interest within the approval process.

Because of this I have filed a petition for judicial review this past Friday in District

Court. This isn’t about obstruction, it is about ensuring that the laws meant to protect the public are actually followed. When development outpaces accountability democracy itself is at risk and these same themes, loss of oversight, disregard for heritage, an erosion of trust connect directly to other troubling actions in our city. We are installing Flock surveillance cameras across Las Cruces. Systems that track every passing vehicle and store data indefinitely. These cameras may seem harmless, but they raise serious Fourth Amendment and Civil Liberty concerns. Across the country communities are rejecting them once the public realizes the risk of abuse, hacking, and unlawful tracking. We cannot trade privacy for a false sense of security. At the same time, we are witnessing the demolition of historic adobe homes in our protected districts. Homes tied to the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the very trail that gave birth to this valley. These structures are irreplaceable cultural assets. Destroying them to solve vagrancy or clean up a neighborhood is short sided and morally wrong. So, in this same breath that we should be protecting citizens from unlawful surveillance and honoring our heritage we should also be demanding transparency and integrity in every public project including Project Jupiter. Las Cruces stands at a crossroads between freedom and overreach, between preservation and demolition, between blind approval and lawful review. I urge this council to stand with its citizens, to support the judicial review process, to halt Flock camera installations, and to protect our historic adobe districts. The people of this city are paying attention, documenting, and determined to ensure that truth and law prevail.

Connie Chapman, Member of the Public said I am a resident of District 4. This statement concerns the fatal shooting of Mr. Mullin on October 9th. I feel it is important for the questions I raised to be made public. The officer involved incident task force that is officially reviewing the fatal shooting is composed of totally other law

enforcement agencies and I doubt will raise the same questions I have as a concerned citizen. At the press conference a reporter from El Paso KFox News 14, asked Chief Story about the training officers receive with regard to the use of lethal force versus non-lethal force in such situations. Chief Story explained, “that as a general rule an officer would not use a less lethal tool for a lethal encounter when they are by themselves. So, if there had been multiple officers there might have been different options but there were not.” What does Chief Story mean by different options? That the death of a human being might have been preventable with just more officers on the scene? If that was the case and what I want to understand is then why was the officer in such a rush when Mr. Mullin was he a threat while sitting in his car with his doors closed when the officer arrived? The officer orders the man out of his car, the officer opens the car door not Mr. Mullin. What was the hurry or the purpose of having Mr. Mullin exit his car immediately. Mr. Mullin was dead within a minute of the officer’s arrival. So again, what was the rush?

Jim Hoerst, Member of the Public said I just wanted to call you attention to the No

Kings Protest yesterday. It was a demonstration of the political sympathies of this town. I was there and I estimate that the crowd of well over 1,000. I know how difficult it is to get 1,000 people to do anything politically even as simple as to send an email or to register to vote or something like that, 1,000 people were at the demonstration yesterday. Their political sympathies are liberal. Nobody was paid in spite of the claims by our President, who is a pillar of integrity as you all know. He wouldn’t lie to us, he wouldn’t just make stuff up against his opponents. He says we were paid. So, I want to know where my check is? As far as I know no one has gotten any or has every gotten any at any of those political events. You need to know your constituents generally speaking are sympathetic to liberal causes and it is right that you are too.

4. READ CLOSED MEETING STATEMENT 4.1 READ OCTOBER 20, 2025 CLOSED MEETING STATEMENT INTO THE

RECORD. The Las Cruces City Council met in closed session and only discussed those limited items as stated in the posted notice:

1. To discuss pending or threatened litigation as it pertains to the Walnut Skate

Park, which is closed pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 10-15-1H(7).

2. To discuss bargaining strategy preliminary to collective bargaining negotiations between the policymaking body and a bargaining unit representing the employees of that policymaking sessions at which the policymaking body and the representatives of the collective bargaining unit are present, which is closed pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 10-15-1H(5).

3. To discuss the purchase, acquisition or disposal of real property or water rights by the public body, which is closed pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 10-15-

1H(8).

4. To discuss pending or threatened litigation regarding Olyvia Dominguez v. the

City of Las Cruces, and Joe Hernandez, D-307-cv-2024-00746, which is closed pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 10-15-1H(7).

5. 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, Councilor Becky

Corran, and Councilor Yvonne Flores

6. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 6.1 WORK SESSION OF SEPTEMBER 22, 2025.

7. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR CONSENT AGENDA 7.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-051: A RESOLUTION TO AWARD A CONTRACT

FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE LAS CRUCES CONVENTION CENTER

TO SMG OF WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A TERM OF

FIVE (5) YEARS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $120,000 ANNUALLY

SUBJECT TO ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON THE CONSUMER

PRICE INDEX, PLUS THREE PERCENT (3%) OF GROSS FOOD AND

BEVERAGE SALES, SUBJECT TO APPROVED BUDGET

APPROPRIATIONS (PROCUREMENT NO. 24-25-001). 7.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-052: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE

IN THE ANNUAL NOT-TO-EXCEED TOTAL OF EXISTING CONTRACT

PURCHASE AGREEMENT 23-24-078 WITH ENCHANTED TECHNOLOGY

SOLUTIONS, LLC OF ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO TO $400,000,

SUBJECT TO APPROVED BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS. 7.3 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-007; ORDINANCE NO. 3099: AN ORDINANCE

AMENDING CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE IV, SUBDIVISION XVI. - HISTORIC

PRESERVATION COMMITTEE OF THE LAS CRUCES MUNICIPAL CODE (LCMC) TO REFLECT CHANGES FROM REALIZE LAS CRUCES (ORDINANCE NO. 3090).

8. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR DISCUSSION 8.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-053: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF

LAS CRUCES (CITY) TO ACCEPT FIRST 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 Flores asked when all these funds are being allocated at this point, were they unforeseen at the time that the budget was presented to us initially?

Vanessa Perez asked are you referring to one in specific or just generally?

Councilor Flores asked just generally because this says new allocations, right?

Vanessa Perez said some of them are. Some of them are coming in as rollovers for vehicles what weren’t received last year. Some of them are new allocations and then some of them are just adjusting our balances to reflect accurate remaining funds from different projects or for different grants.

Councilor Flores asked some if it is new money and some of it is money that was already allocated?

Vanessa Perez said that is correct. Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Becki Graham, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-053.

MOVER: Councilor Becky Corran

SECONDER: Councilor Becki Graham

Corran, and Councilor Yvonne Flores 8.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-054: 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. Gabriela Prats, Grant Manager gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Becki Graham moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-054.

SECONDER: Councilor Johana Bencomo

Corran, and Councilor Yvonne Flores 8.3 RESOLUTION NO. 26-055: A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE FY2026 - 2031

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM. Cynthia Alamillo, CIP Manager gave the overhead presentation.

Katherine Harrison-Rogers, Parks Plan and Construction Administrator continued the overhead presentation.

Richard Hanway, Transit Director continued the overhead presentation.

Councilor Bencomo said I was looking for our last emails about the High Noon bathrooms. Those have been reopened, right?

Katherine Harrison-Rogers said as I understand it there were some plumbing issues associated with the men’s restroom in particular and just the flushing of the urinals.

They were going to replace some parts, but I do believe that they have been opened.

I can’t one-hundred percent conform that but I do believe they have been opened, and they are making those adjustments as needed.

Councilor Bencomo asked can you just follow up with an email?

Katherine Harrison-Rogers said I will absolutely follow up with an email.

Steven Bingham, Parks and Recreation Director said yes, those restrooms have been open, but they did close them down today through Wednesday to go in and replace and warranty some of the equipment. They have been open, but they are going to be shut till Wednesday.

Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-055.

Corran, and Councilor Yvonne Flores 8.4 RESOLUTION NO. 26-056: A RESOLUTION TO ENTER INTO AN EXISTING

CONTRACT PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR BODY CAMERA AND

NONLETHAL ELECTRICAL CONDUCTED WEAPONS (TASER) AND DATA

STORAGE SERVICES FOR THE LAS CRUCES POLICE DEPARTMENT

WITH AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. OF SCOTTSDALE, AZ IN AN ANNUAL

NOT-TO-EXCEED TOTAL OF $2,500,000, PLUS APPLICABLE TAXES,

SUBJECT TO APPROVED BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS. (PROCUREMENT

NO. 25-26-033). Virginia Barela, Buyer II gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Flores asked all of this is to upgrade what we already have? Or is it adding in anticipation of more police officers?

Virginia Barela said the contract will be to maintain our existing contract for all the equipment we currently have, to upgrade the equipment we have as it meets its useful life cycle, to pay for the management and software system for it, and then to grow on the program as the department grows in future years.

Councilor Flores asked it is a data storage issue?

Virginia Barela said it is not necessarily a data storage issue. Every year the cost of this equipment gets more expensive. We have to add it as we add more police officers and then when new equipment comes out and new items come out that LCPD can use in services to conduct their jobs we want to be able to have the ability to

increase on the program utilizing the equipment that is offered that will interconnect with our current equipment.

Councilor Flores asked when we have our big summit and go through like in

December or January when we go through budget allocations and all of that is this something that has come up inadvertently or is it just something that has to be addressed at this point? Was it anticipated or how does that work because this is like an end of year adjustment to our last years budget?

Virginia Barela said so what this contract would be doing would be setting a capping limit for how much can expend. So, every year with the new budget that is presented to council if new equipment is going to purchased, if they are going to expand on the program, they would have to present that to council and get it incorporated and approved through their budget in order to purchase the new equipment. This is just setting their limit on how much they can spend on any given year.

Councilor Corran said I think we talked about this a while ago this is something we approved a few years back in this context but I do think it is a great example of things, people not necessarily understanding, this is related to a state law that requires certain types of things and when that law was passed how much funding did they give us to fulfill this law? I think none if I remember correctly. This is the kind of complicated relationship we have with when people make new laws and sometimes it is us and sometimes it is others and sometimes you know it is compelled and sometimes it is the right thing to do and all of those things where we also understand that there has to be. This is the classic definition of an unfunded mandate from our state. I would just like to name it as such and if you don’t follow local politics, I think it is an interesting example of such. So, in addition to us wanting to do what is right I think this is an interesting conversation in that context. I just wanted to point that out as a thing that we often face in local government.

Councilor Becki Graham moved, seconded by Councilor Becky Corran, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-056.

Corran, and Councilor Yvonne Flores 8.5 RESOLUTION NO. 26-057: A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE SMALL

BUSINESS SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. Irene Parra, Business Development Administrator gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Flores said it sounds wonderful and it’s an MRA so there has been a lot of activity to improve the MRA or whatever. I’m glad that Officer Joy is on this because she is a real plus to our community in so far as seeing our police officers as people who are there to protect us and our friends actually and neighbors but I am just curious about the keeping an eye on how successful it is and how the information will be gathered and what sort of I suppose maybe in the making or already sorts of

indicators that you are expecting to keep an eye on to see if it so is that in the making or is this all hypothetical at this point or is it ready to plug it in?

Irene Parra said yes, there are metrics that we are building in place right now. Part of that is going to be a pre-assessment that we are going to include once a business is deemed eligible. We will be sending them a questionnaire to identify sort of what the current state of thinking is if things are for them when the program is at its completion we can go back and do a post assessment to measure what the state of their business is as an activity at that point. So, we have point of measure. So, we will be taking information at the beginning of the program and again at the end and comparing that and using that as measures if we are able to continue this program in ways that we can improve it.

Councilor Flores asked have all the businesses in the MRAs been advised or are on notice of this opportunity?

Irene Parra said part of this came from feedback directly from businesses from within the MRA.

Councilor Flores asked those are the businesses that will probably benefit from it?

Irene Parra said correct.

Councilor Corran asked we are approving this funding generally, I am curious in terms of the MRA, the model for funding our MRA activities, this is not coming from that yet, right? We don’t have any revenues from the MRA officially?

Irene Parra said you are correct.

Councilor Corran asked I would also like to know just in terms of the evaluation and understanding what the impacts are, I would also like to know how we can think about this in a sustainable way and then expand it to other MRAs if that is sort of warranted based on what the conversations happen? I know we are all anxious to get the MRAs rolling but I’m curious of the timing relates to that or not at all or how we might reflect when that actually has become a source of income for us?

Irene Parra said I think that given the information that we received during the stakeholder engagements there does seem to be a need to want to address this and so rather than waiting for those funds to come in we wanted to take this opportunity with the funds that we do have to start this program and build on it based on lessons learned.

Councilor Corran asked we don’t know when the MRAs are going to start bringing in money or do we? That is what I would love to know more about.

Celina Morales, Economic Development Deputy Director said right now we don’t have funds. This is where we are still setting the baseline and then once we have the

baseline then we will be able to accumulate the property tax and GRT for that. So, we don’t have anything for that right now. We are constantly looking for grants and things like that to help supplement meanwhile and whatever you want to give us we will take so that is kind of what we are waiting on as well.

Councilor Bencomo said I know this was part of my budget priorities last year. What I wanted to say actually was that I really appreciated how quickly you all moved on this and how quickly you all came up with an idea for us to utilize these funds that felt really responsive to the community’s needs. So, thank you very much. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, I think maybe page 7, I don’t remember where you have some of the requirements. I was thinking about the 40 employees, I am curious of how you all treat things like Walgreens, non-corporate, you’re filtering out any sort of franchise, fast food chain restaurants and things like that?

Irene Parra said correct, we are.

Mayor Enriquez said thank you again for all your efforts and your works and to this.

Lieutenant, just a quick question on this. What does staffing look like right now for community engagement? It is just more duties assigned. I know you have a got a lot of them but how does it look right now?

Joy Wiitala, Police Department Lieutenant said I am short one community outreach officers, so I think that looks pretty darn good.

Mayor Enriquez asked what is the total right now?

Lieutenant Joy Wiitala said staff wise right we are at 8. That includes Sergeant and all of the officer and right now we are at seven versus the eight.

Mayor Enriquez said we were talking about sustaining and growing and those types of things and making sure that we are moving in the direction that doesn’t limit our resources as we move forward. Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-057.

9. BOARD APPOINTMENTS 9.1 None.

10. 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). 10.1 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-008; ORDINANCE NO. 3100: AN ORDINANCE

AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO ENTER INTO A FRANCHISE AGREEMENT

WITH RIPPLE FIBER NEW MEXICO LLC (“RIPPLE”), TO AUTHORIZE THE

CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF A

TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR FIBER INTERNET WITHIN THE

CITY. Council agreed to bring it forward. 10.2 COUNCIL BILL NO. 26-009; ORDINANCE NO. 3101: AN ORDINANCE

AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF CITY OF LAS CRUCES,

NEW MEXICO TAXABLE INDUSTRIAL REVENUE BONDS (ENDURANCE

TECHNOLOGIES USA INC. PROJECT) IN A MAXIMUM PRINICIPAL

AMOUNT OF $17,600,000 IN ONE OR MORE SERIES TO PROVIDE FUNDS

TO FINANCE THE ACQUISITION, CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION AND

EQUIPPING OF AN INDUSTRIAL REVENUE BOND PROJECT FOR USE BY

ENDURANCE TECHNOLOGIES USA INC. OR ITS SUCCESSORS OR

ASSIGNS; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF AN

INDENTURE, LEASE, BOND PURCHASE AGREEMENT, THE BONDS AND

OTHER DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE ISSUANCE OF THE

BONDS AND THE PROJECT; MAKING CERTAIN DETERMINATIONS AND

FINDINGS RELATING TO THE BONDS AND THE PROJECT; RATIFYING

CERTAIN ACTIONS TAKEN PREVIOUSLY; AND REPEALING ALL

ACTIONS INCONSISTENT WITH THIS ORDINANCE. Council agreed to bring it forward.

11. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BOARD REPORTS AND COMMENT 11.1 COUNCILOR MCCLURE I just wanted to bring up that I have been going to the Criminal Justice Coordinating

Council and I would invite members of the public to also attend that. The next meeting is November 19th, 2025, if anybody would like to come. It is a noon meeting. You are going to have judges there, it kind of skews heavy to law enforcement. I have learned a lot. I don’t know much about the criminal justice system because I guess I have been a goody, goody for most of my life. It has been a learning experience. We have an 88-page interview with a stakeholder document that has been incredibly helpful to kind of parse out some of what the environment looks like here in Las Cruces but getting feedback is always helpful or we just kind of just stare at each other and I would appreciate not doing that too. We are working on a strategic plan so this would be a ground floor-level sort of thing if you are wanting to get involved and it is just an hour. It is at the Magistrate Court.

I would also like to make a pitch for our Regional Dispatch. If anybody would like to explore career opportunities. They are always hiring. I don’t think that we kind of address that enough that there is always need for that portion as well.

Then quickly a shout out the Literary Foundation Festival. Visit Las Cruces is also a part of that. Got to stop in. We do have a thriving literary community right here not

always acknowledged. I would like to give a quick shout out that we did have here all the way from Santa Fe down representing local artists and writers too.

11.2 COUNCILOR MATTIACE Most of my comments and questions are going to address to the City Attorney. I phoned in from my vacation from Turkey and Greece and I had pretty bad communications. I lost a lot of the council meeting. I got to vote. I think it was the 5-2, correct? On that welcoming community resolution. So, I just want some clarity and so if you could answer some questions, would that be okay?

Brad Douglas, City Attorney said yes, I will do my best. If there is something that I think veers into attorney/client privilege we will have to meet offline.

Councilor Mattiace said if you go to page three, I hope you can bring up a copy of the new resolution real quick on your computer. I just had a question on page 365 of the

524 on the welcoming community resolution of the revised one. Sorry for my ignorance, I am not as sharp as attorneys so, I just have some clarity that I need some help with. I believe it is on page 365 under Section 3. The copy that I received, you changed that, correct? It says report to the City Council and City Manager all training completed to ensure full compliance with this ordinance. That was change to resolution?

Brad Douglas said I have a copy of the resolution handy. There were a couple of edits made but I don’t have it in front of me.

Councilor Mattiace said I believe what I have is a final copy and I think that word ordinance is still maybe in the resolution. So that needs to either come back for an amendment maybe after the election but if it is still there or maybe you had corrected it.

Brad Douglas said it is my understanding that it actually was corrected. I am not sure if that is the most up to date copy but if it is the most up to date copy and there was something that slipped through that is certainly something that would be eligible for an administrative change, so we will go ahead and make that change.

Councilor Mattiace said I was just going to ask maybe that the City Manager or yourself on some clarity on a prohibition of city resources. I believe it is B, there is A,

B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I but it would be B, it says stopping, identifying, investigating, arresting, detaining, or continuing to detain a person for immigration enforcement operation purposes including pursuant to an immigration detainer and an administrative immigration warrant or other immigration enforcement document or information or suspicion that the person is not present legally in the United States or that person has committed an immigration violation. Do I understand this that city employees are prohibited, is there a restriction or prohibition on their reporting, am I understanding that correct?

Brad Douglas said the way I would answer your question is that LCPD does not now

or has not ever engaged in solely immigration related enforcement without compensation from the federal government and this governing body has made it clear that we do not wish to engage in that type of activity and so this is specifying for now what we are doing now and what we hope to do keep doing in the future.

Councilor Mattiace asked this would encompass all city employees, not just LCPD? Is this all city employees?

Brad Douglas said yes.

Councilor Mattiace asked where are we and what will the impact be if you go Section

3, it says, in order to ensure a compliance with this resolution within six months of adoption or whenever feasible but not more than one year the city departments or agencies shall provide employees with written directive, protocol, instructions for implementation of this resolution and shall provide an ongoing basis, such trainings as are necessary to ensure compliance with this resolution. The City Manager, will there be increased staff, will there be increased cost? How is this going to be implemented?

Brad Douglas said even though it is not explicitly stated in the resolution it was always my anticipation that it would be my office that would provide direction, that would provide training, and that would provide assistance to the entire city government of course with input from other department directors but I would not anticipate that it would lead to any unanticipated cost at this point.

Councilor Mattiace said if you go down to C it does say that you report to the city council or and City Manager when all training is completed. When does the training start? When do I get trained?

Brad Douglas said the subsection that you just referenced anticipates that city staff will report to the city council which trainings have been completed, what direction has been given but if any member of the governing body after that six-month period would like to meet with me offline, I would be more than happy to do that.

Councilor Mattiace said I was just going to ask Christine, I know you have a lot of on your work as City Clerk, I believe this is on page 366. It says the City Clerk or designee shall provide a quarterly public report. And so, do you have any increased staff, overtime, or any impact there?

Christine Rivera, City Clerk said this will probably be me. I don’t have any increase in staff but I just got overtime in my budget today so this will be handled.

Councilor Mattiace said lastly it is just information regarding citizenship or immigration status, it is clear to me that nothing in this resolution shall be construed to prohibit or restrict any city employee, agent or agency from sending to or receiving from federal immigration authorities information regarding the citizenship or immigration status lawful or unlawful of an individual from requesting from a federal immigration authority, immigration status information lawful or unlawful of any individual maintaining or exchanging that information with any other federal, state, or local

government pursuant to Sections 1373 and 1644 of Title 8 of the United States Code.

That is actually the wrap up, the summary of the resolution, correct?

Brad Douglas said correct.

Councilor Mattiace said I just have a few other things, Mayor. I just want the comment on Chris Faivre with helping me with some businesses asking for funding for damaged property. I just want to give kudos to Chris. Thank you very much. I think

Mr. Lamb and a very quick response, and he is quite satisfied in helping him with the application. I really appreciate that. 11.3 COUNCILOR GRAHAM None. 11.4 COUNCILOR CORRAN None. 11.5 COUNCILOR FLORES None. 11.6 COUNCILOR BENCOMO I didn’t have anything planned today and I wasn’t going to say anything, but I just can’t let the lingering language that just occurred, the dog whistles about the welcoming city resolution just linger about how incredibly hostile those are to our immigrant community that live in this community, that pay GRT in this community. So, I don’t know if a constituent ever reached out to me why I would need to ask for their legal status before I helped them. That is incredibly disappointing and shameful that you are already plotting to rescind this after the election, and I hope our community is listening. That is deeply disappointing. 11.7 MAYOR ENRIQUEZ A couple of things that I wanted to mention was that this Saturday I got to participate in the 250th marking of our country will turn 250 years next year but the Daughters of the American Revolution had a gathering and a celebration at Klein Park. They actually had a marker there marking the 250 year and it was a great presentation to be reminded of what even the Daughters of the American Revolution do, which is to preserve our history, to educate, and patriotism and the timing was great. To see that and to hear that and to also know that they volunteer and help charities and they get involved with civic engagement and do all these things for us and it was a good example and I share it and I give them kudos because I think that is a lot of what we can do is educate and remember our patriotism and their values of being united and freedom.

12. CITY MANAGER REPORT 12.1 IKANI TAUMOEPEAU Community Development, Las Cruces is updating its Downtown Map Master Plan to reflect changes since 2016, version and to chart a bold path forward over a dedicated week of outreach city staff and the firm place makers will collect input from residents, businesses and stakeholders to guide improvements. We invite everyone and all of

those listening to the following events, Monday, October 20th, at 6:00 to 7:30 is the opening presentation and kickoff. Wednesday, October 22nd, 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. is the open house, drop-in session. Friday, October 24th, is the closing presentation and summarizing finding next steps, 6:00 to 7:30. All events will be held at Amador Live,

302 South Main Street. For more information, you can find more information on the city website.

Housing, reminder community open house for the upcoming Consolidated Plan and

Affordable Housing Plan will be held on October 22nd at Las Cruces Home Builders

Event Hall. All are invited to drop in between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. City of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County invite you to share your input and help improve housing availability, 2825 North Main Street.

For Quality of Life, the 90 years of the Branigan Library exhibit opened at the

Branigan Cultural Center 90 years ago. So, on Friday, November 7th we will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library with a program at 2:30 p.m.

Neurodivergent Thursdays and Teen Tuesdays are permanent evenings at the museums and City Program Nutrition Team was notified that they will be a recipient of the Golden Chile Award of the New Mexico Grown Program. They will receive the award in Albuquerque on December 1st. This annual event recognizes schools and organizations that promote and utilize locally grown foods throughout the state.

For Public Works, 2024 to 2025 high density mineral project is complete. Thirty-two streets treated with a total cost of $400,000 and East Madrid Avenue will back open to public use by October 30th, total project was $3.6 million.

Sky Fiesta is coming up. I want to invite everyone. This will be an exciting event happening on Saturday, October 25th, show starts at 12 o’clock. It is happening all that afternoon. So hopefully you can make it. There will be food, events, aerial events, air racing, so a lot of great things.

13. ADJOURNMENT 13.1 Councilor Yvonne Flores moved, seconded by Councilor Becky Corran, to adjourn at 3:06 p.m.

MOVER: Councilor Yvonne Flores

Mayor

City Clerk