City Council Meeting July 7, 2025

MINUTES

City Council

Monday, July 7, 2025 @ 1:00 PM

City Council Chambers, City Hall

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

Johana Bencomo, Councilor Becky Corran, and Councilor Yvonne Flores

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham

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

APPRECIATION/PROCLAMATIONS - COUNCILOR CORRAN. None. 1.3 JOBS OF THE WEEK. Sarah Raney, Americas Job Center 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 Las Cruces Utilities activities regarding the

Lead and Copper Rule continue to worsen. The city has now manipulated and disappeared key records. It’s like cooking the books. EPA says an online inventory is

supposed to be increase the public’s confidencey in cooperation with the water system in finding and replacing lead pipes. The city’s actions are having the opposite effect. A key problem with the city’s online inventory has been its false characterization of pipes as non-lead saying an installation date is after the lead ban when the installation date was actually prior to the lead ban in 1986. That has been an obvious falsehood on the online record for many properties in Las Cruces. Rather than correcting the record Las Cruces Utilities has now manipulated it so that problematic information has been disappeared. The online inventory now no longer shows the service line installation date. Additional information has also been disappeared. The basis of the material classification whether it is a sensitive population, whether it is a disadvantaged neighborhood and whether the service line material was field verified. All of that is gone now. You can see in Handout 1, what the record for a property on Fairway Drive showed on March 22nd, on June 9th, and on

June 17th. This is a property whose system online the city said was non-lead based on an installation date after the lead after the lead ban when the record shows the service line was installed in 1972, fourteen years before the lead ban. This property is on the list of deficiencies I provided you on May 19th. Sometime between June 9th and June 17th the city dealt with the problem by just disappearing the installation date and the basis of material classification. Every property similarly situated with an originally false characterization now no longer has an installation date in the record.

All of these obvious problems have been manipulated away. Also, for this property on

Fairway Drive the characterization of the system owned portion of the service line has been mysteriously changed from non-lead other on June 9th to non-lead plastic on

June 17th with no basis provided. Handout 2 contains the record for a property on

Mondale Loop captured on four different dates. On March 15th the record indicates that both lines we non-lead plastic based on a field inspection. On March 18th, three days later the record indicated the lines were non-lead plastic without stating any basis and also stating that the service line material was not field verified. The record on April 21st again states there was no field verification. Finally, the record on June

17th, which reflects the disappearing of the five categories of information, now says nothing at all about field verification. If you were considering buying this house but kept being confronted online with changing or disappearing information regarding lead pipes you likely would consider this to be a fraud by the city against Las Cruces taxpayers. One cannot reasonably argue that these are honest mistakes. This is intentional manipulation.

Liz Rodriguez-Johnson, Member of the Public said EPA says that service line inventory required by the Lead and Copper Rule are the foundation from which water systems take action to address lead service lines. They are the key to getting lead lines replaced in protecting public health. I am disturbed by what appears to be a Las

Cruces Utilities manipulation of records for properties in the online inventory. Handout

A, indicates manipulation of dates other than statements for a property on Hillsdale

Street. On March 22nd the record declared both lines be non-lead plastic but provided no basis. It also said that the service line material had not been field verified but by contrast the record on June 9th said that a visual inspection took place at the water meter pit. On December 19th, three months prior to the March 22nd record which declared that no fuel verification had occurred. Then a record on June 17th of this property says by contrast that a visual inspection took place at the meter pit on

December 18th, a day prior to the date set in the June 9th record. All of these records

can’t be correct. So which record is to be believed? None of them? Handout B, shows what appears to be manipulation of the online record for a property on Joy Lane. On

March 22nd the record stated that the entire service line was unknown. This is despite the fact that it also declared that both the system and the customer owned lines are non-lead without providing any basis. Then on June 9th the record changed and stated that the entire service line was non-lead and no longer being unknown. No basis is provided for this change and on June 17th the record changed back and again stated that the entire service line is unknown. All of this apparent manipulation wipes out confidence in the Las Cruces Utilities integrity. This seems to be intentional disregard for the rules and requirements. This also appears to be an intentional disregard for the people of Las Cruces including all the folks with low income, the folks who live in the oldest parts of the city where lead pipes are the most likely to be and all the folks who don’t understand what is going on and what is at stake. Handout

C, shows eleven neighborhoods out of many that have been left out of the city’s inventory. They don’t appear to have any water hookups. Water hookups are designated with a green dot for non-lead, a yellow triangle for unknown, or a purple square for galvanized required replacement. If they don’t show up on the map these folks have been ignored by the city or forgotten and this is just unacceptable. I do not understand the logic behind spending time and money to obscure an issue rather than to fix it, especially when the health of Las Cruces citizens is at stake here. Particularly the health of citizens in the older parts of town where our citizens do not or cannot afford to adequately stock drinkable water. Resolving this issue must start with the correct preparation and maintenance of this inventory.

John Vernicek, Member of the Public said I reside in District 2. My comments are directed mainly towards my representative and also for you our Police Chief. I am just making you aware of our situation. First of all, Mr. Story, I want to compliment you on your officers are very professional and I do appreciate that about them. I live in the area between Espina and Solano, and Missouri area around University and there has been a problem since I very first moved here since 2012 of some vandalism. I just recently had my house vandalized, my car vandalized, it was keyed, well my truck, attempted break ins, not only of my house but of my vehicles around me, my next- door neighbor was broken into. The neighbor across the street caddy-corner to me was also broken into. You can find all of this sir if you take a look at the records. What

I would like sir is something to be done about this. There is also a lot of vagrancy.

There is kids between the ages of 14 and 19 that have been going around the area a lot and I tend to just ignore things unless I am seeing somebody walking around in that area and they have a hoodie on in this kind of weather you don’t wear a hoodie, and it has just been getting bad. I have had my pet stolen also. There are vehicles that just zoom right up and down my street right there on Gardner. They are not doing no 25 miles an hour. They are doing a lot faster sir. There is disturbances in the middle of the night. I am a little more aware of things that happen at night considering

I served six years in the United States Marine Corps, and I am a Combat Veteran that served my country with pride.

Liz Bennett, Member of the Public said chances are that the food you ate this weekend was planted, picked, transported, cooked, and served by the immigrant community. Chances are your home, and office was constructed and maintained by the immigrant community. Chances are that the entertainment and hospitality you

enjoyed while traveling was provided by the immigrant community. Chances are that some of the most precious in your neighborhood, children and the elderly are cared for by the immigrant community. This community pay up to $100 billion in taxes each year, are less likely to commit crimes, and contribute to vast talent, heritage, innovation, and grit in our society. What we are witnessing by the federal government are acts of greed, hubris and supremacy on a national scale. Talk of border invasions and dangerous criminals is meant to stoke fear and manufacture consent for the design and implementation of systems of subjugation that serve to produce forced labor for the ruling class. If you want to peek into one of the possible futures of this plan of being enacted you have to look no further than Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz, a concentration camp built in 8 days by private companies who are paid millions in

FEMA dollars. Located in the Everglades National Park, people are currently being held hostage in hurricane prone marshes among alligator and python infested waters.

Under Florida’s 287G Program, led by ICE local law enforcement are allowed to integrate individuals and detain them at this facility. The bloated, bigoted budget signed into law this weekend allocates $45 billion for building new detention centers.

This is a 265% increase in the ICE detention budget. Additionally, the budget includes $30 billion for ICE enforcement and deportation operations. The federal government is doubling down on investments in discrimination, incarceration, and slaved labor. Is it enough to be cariñozos, friendly and welcoming in the face of kidnapping, detention, torture, and death? We are here to call on all of our community to protect those we hold dear, those we depend on and those that we value and cherish within our community. It is time to strengthen our city ordinances, commit our local law enforcement to protecting human rights and fight for a statewide action like New

Mexico House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act. I want to implore all members of this council to take your role seriously in this moment to act now and act courageously.

Lindley Hornsby, Member of the Public said immigration and customs enforcement along with the Department of Homeland Security continue to terrorize communities across the US. In addition to Alligator Alcatraz, we have the Marines headed to

Florida to assist ICE and Department of Homeland Security in disappearing community members. I am just thinking about what it might be like to be in your shoes right now when our federal government is reigning terror on our country and how it could feel powerless right now being a municipal leader. However, our community is trusting you to protect us, and we believe that you can do it and that you can use your power and privilege within the positions that you have to continue to support our immigrant community. Here in New Mexico dozens of community members have been disappeared by ICE and I am proud to say that here in the city of Las Cruces we have resolutions to support our immigrant community. Resolution 18-075, a resolution reaffirming the City of Las Cruces commitment to creating a quality place to live and work through non-discrimination in all areas of city government and declaring the city a welcoming city. I really appreciate the non-discrimination clauses here in this resolution and in addition we have Resolution 22-059, which is in support of a pathway to citizenship for New Mexico’s immigrant families. So I really appreciate in advance the City of Las Cruces continuing to work hard to not only uphold these resolutions but also to strengthen them and look at our practices in ensuring that we are abiding by them especially during times of severe persecution led by our federal government and as you all continue to fight back against the threats of fascism knowing that your community is fighting alongside you and that the community may

continue to practice civil disobedience resisting the threats of fascism that we are seeing right now and I really want to encourage the council to continue to honor civil disobedience and not intimidate organizers in the community away from pushing for the change that we so desperately need right now.

Karen Quevedo, Member of the Public said I am here to ask this council to improve city Resolution 18-075, which was just mentioned and General Order 166. The last time our immigrant relatives, friends and neighbors were under as profound an attack as they are today the city council took action. December of 2017 the city council passed a resolution presented by the Las Cruces Police Chief Jaime Montoya and

City Attorney Jennifer Vega-Brown to as it was stated reaffirm Las Cruces commitment to non-discrimination in all areas of city government and declaring us a welcoming community. The resolution affirmed the city’s human rights ordinances and policies of the Police Department which include General Order 165, requiring equitable and fair treatment of all individuals and General Order 166, which says that the Las Cruces Police Department is not authorized to detain or arrest any person based on their nationality or ethnicity and prohibits LCPD from inquiring or seeking proof of a person’s immigration status. The resolution also affirms that the City

Manager shall enact or bring forward for consideration any policy that furthers the purposes and intent of this resolution and uphold the city of Las Cruces as a welcoming community for immigrants. To that end we ask that the city take the following steps. Amend General Order 166 to not allow for exceptions to city employees asking about a person’s immigration status. Amend GO 166 to close loopholes for detaining a person based on suspicion alone. LCPD’s policies should instead be that no employee of the city be arrested, detain or prolong the detention of an individual for the purposes of enforcing any federal immigration violation and amend or affirm GO 166 to add that no city employee will aid or support ICE operations in the city. The Denver Mayor has promised to take ICE to court if it targets people in sensitive locations such as schools, churches and hospitals, Mayor

Enriquez can do the same. Proactively pass a resolution forbidding the use of Section

287G agreements which deputize the local officers to work with ICE. Ban ICE agents from wearing masks, wearing plain clothes, and using unmarked cars. These are tactics of terror and tactics of an authoritarian police state that hides from accountability, this needs to end. In the next legislative session city of Las Cruces can support with its lobbying resources critical human rights bills like 2025 HB 9,

Immigrant Safety Act, and finally we should adopt a full sanctuary city status. For those who are willing to bow down to the grotesque, racist Trump Administration threats to cut off federal funding from sanctuary cities, I will remind you that increased terror and kidnapping people off the streets is what disrupts businesses and local economies. Also, instructive here is that the Tenth Amendment to our Constitution prevents federal government from using these threats. Any coercive of threats to force a local government into adopting federal programs or enforcing federal laws is prohibited under the Tenth Amendment. Namely any of these ever shifting racist policies of the current President.

Lucas Herndon, Member of the Public said I am a resident of District 2. As we stand here today in the shadows of fear and uncertainty loom large over many of our neighborhoods, friends and family members due to the aggressive actions of ICE and the militarization of police across our nation. It is in this context that we must

reevaluate our city stance on protecting the most vulnerable among us. While our existing resolution reaffirming our commitment to non-discrimination and welcoming immigrants has been a beacon of hope the current climate demands that we go further. The Las Cruces Police Department’s General Order 166 enacted on August

16, 2011, was a significant step towards ensuring that our law enforcement practices respect the rights of all individuals regardless of their immigration status. However, a closer examination reveals that it still permits the disclosure of an individual’s immigration status to ICE under certain circumstances. This loophole undermines the very essence of our commitment to be a welcoming community. It is imperative that we address this gap and ensure that our policies are robust and unequivocal in their protection of all residents. To truly be a sanctuary for those seeking safety and a better life we must adopt a new resolution that categorically prohibits our local police from collaborating with ICE or any other federal immigration agency under any circumstances. The trust between our community and law enforcement is fragile to say the least. It is no secret that many people including myself don’t trust the police even as people born in this country with relatives dating back before New Mexico was a state. New Mexico remains the most violent and dangerous state for citizens when it comes to being killed by police. Given this mistrust it is clear that more must be done to make the Las Cruces community at large feel safer in regard to police overreach in power. The new resolution we propose must be clear and unwavering. Under no circumstances should our local police be involved in federal immigration enforcement.

This means not only not sharing information, not detaining individuals based on immigration status and not participating in ICE operations but expanding the resolution to remove the word may from General Order 166.01, Line C and replace it with, shall not. Furthermore, the new resolution should reinforce and expand upon the principles outlined in our existing policies. It should ensure that city employees are prohibited from inquiring about immigration status, that personal identifying information is safeguarded and access to non-public city areas by federal immigration agents is strictly limited. By adopting this new resolution, we will be sending a powerful message that Las Cruces is committed to being a safe haven for everyone regardless of their immigration status. We will be reaffirming our values of justice, equality and compassion. We will be protecting the dignity and rights of our residents and ensuring that our community remains a place where everyone can live without fear of persecution or discrimination. I urge you council, take this critical step. Draft and support a new resolution that goes further than our current one. Let us make it unequivocally clear that Las Cruces stands in solidarity with its undocumented community members. Let us ensure that our policies are a beacon of hope and safety for those who need it most. Together we can make a difference and uphold the principles and make our community strong and resilient.

Axl Hail, Member of the Public said I have lived in Las Cruces my entire life, born here and continue to live here. To have lived in this community is to see the impact that immigrants have had in our community. We live in Las Cruces, the city of the crosses.

I don’t consider myself to be particularly religious, but you look at the scripture and it is fundamentally said to love thy neighbor. To care and protect our immigrants is to love thy neighbor. I currently reside over off El Camino Real, out near the fields and orchards and I see everyday people in the fields who work harder than some people I know working an entire year in that single morning. To see the culture that we have here in Las Cruces. You know the historic Mesilla district, these things that have

fundamentally been created by Hispanic culture. We can’t have these things and embrace them as part of our community without also acknowledging the fact where they came from, the people who established them, the culture behind them and the importance of that. I also work for a church that has historically acted as a refuge center for immigrants and to see that, to see this community and the way that immigrants have taken care of me personally and so many other people I know and I call upon you and further implore the importance of what they are saying that our immigrant community members need to be protected and when the federal government is doing the exact opposite of that. When they are actively attacking the most vulnerable people. It falls to you, our local and state governments to put these protections in place. To say no we are not going to allow that here. You guys have the power to do this, and I implore you to use it. To make sure that these things are upheld here and furthered to keep our entire community safe in the name of what Las

Cruces really stands for.

Zach Egan, Member of the Public said I am a resident in District 6 and I just want to thank you all for the opportunity to speak. I want to begin by expressing my gratitude for the city council’s leadership in adopting different resolutions which help to support and protect our community as an inclusive place to live. One of the things that

Resolution 18-075 has done is it helped to ensure that our local law enforcement remains focused on fair and unbiased policing. Policies like this help to build trust in our community and ensure that Las Cruces continues to be inclusive and fair, but we are currently at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. As federal pressures rise there is increasing concern that police departments may be asked to assist with civil immigration enforcement which erodes community trust and makes everyone less safe. People who fear deportation are less likely to report crimes or cooperate with law enforcement and this is why I am asking that the council expand the current resolution or pass resolutions or add new resolutions or add amendments that make clear that Las Cruces police will not support ICE operations. This expanded policy would strengthen public safety, protect vulnerable residents and reaffirm our city’s values. It would also include provisions such as barring ICE from sensitive locations like schools and hospitals, protecting confidentiality in city systems and requiring public reporting on ICE related activity. These are common sense protections that keep Las Cruces safe and united. Thank you for your continued leadership and I urge you to continue to support next steps in keeping us safe.

Rebecca Egan, Member of the Public said I am a special education teacher at

Hermosa Heights. I work with a ton of students and families and one of the things that

I love most about Las Cruces is when I can see that culture of support and trust within our community. One example of that is our Walking School Bus that our school hosts, where staff will join students and volunteers to walk those students to school and that is where I know you, Mayor Enriquez. That is such a beautiful thing to see. It is just so meaningful to see members of our political community involved with kind of boots on the ground community. So, I would like to speak today on behalf of the students that I work with. Many of my students are immigrants and they come from immigrant households. To give a little bit of context to where a lot of parents come from in these situations the information that they are reading and contextualized in our schools with them, the LA Times reports that plain clothed Homeland Security investigation ICE officers went to two different schools in the Los Angeles area. They were reluctant to

show their IDs. They lied about having parental authority to speak to these first graders, these second graders. They did not present the school with court orders or documents and thankfully the schools denied them entry and did not allow them access to those vulnerable students. To also contextualize what Homeland Security investigation usually does, they are usually conducting criminal probes into smuggling operations, drug trafficking and other major net transnational crimes and I really don’t think they have any place in the schools and these ICE officers who are coming to our community and creating this culture of fear and threat among our student population.

If you think the immigrant parents don’t fear something like this within our community again you are wrong. I am not even an immigrant, but it is something I think like what will I do whenever ICE, if ICE shows up at the school, asks to speak to one of my kids? Without action by the city, we are in perill of trading our supportive community for one that is prioritizing fear and mistrust. Schools should not be places of fear.

Homes should not be places of fear. The impact that reckless ICE actions are going to have, the ripple in the school system, they ripple into families, they ripple into communities. From the angles that I can see attendance is going to drop and we are going to be setting up the next generation of thinkers and leaders not only with a lack of education but also with an expectation of fear and mistrust. This is not just about the students from immigrant households as any damage to a student population is not an isolated event. It effects the entire student body. This is about what kind of people do we want to raise for the next generation. Do you want ones that trust others and believe in the goodness of others or ones who frame the world as a place of fear?

Thank you very much, I can see that you all love and care about your community.

Juan Garcia, Member of the Public said White Rabbit is an iconic song of the 60’s acid era, uses imagery of Alice in Wonderland to illustrate the surreal effects of taking hallucinogenic drugs. “One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small and the ones that mother gives you don’t do anything at all. So go ask Alice when she is ten feet tall.” When I first heard this song, it made no sense. The song critiques adults prioritized logic over imagination and urges questioning authority and societal norms.

Fast forward the year 2025, and instead of hearing the lyrics of a classic song I am bombarded by phrases like, “militarized border, democracy is dying, no kings, we live in a fascist nation. People will die in the streets after the reconciliation bill passes, we are in a constitutional crisis, kidnaps are taking place in our streets, and of course our favorite, concentration camps are being built for children”. People even say it feels wrong to celebrate Independence Day and I see the American flag flown upside down throughout the community. The whole atmosphere just feels surreal. Just like in the song there are efforts to normalize illegal and I stress illegal entry into this country while anarchist riot, destroy property and attack law enforcement under the guise of “mostly peaceful protest”. Some come to this podium and use made up drama about rifles being pointed at seniors and kids even though LCPD in my opinion simply had observers during the demonstration at Johnson Park. I listened to our progressive friends call our local police murderers, they say it like these officers leave home not to protect people but to hunt down someone because of the color of their skin. This is a morbid attempt to undermine what law enforcement we have left setting the state for a community that ultimately embraces “defund the police”. A bus tour is celebrating women in sports, Title 9 was vandalized in Albuquerque in broad daylight as an attempt to silence through violence and intimidation. None of it makes sense to me because most progressives see nothing good in our nation today. Today is not about

drugs fogging up people’s minds, it’s darker, anger, but mostly is the raw boiling hatred for one man and for anyone who dares to push back against the march towards the future that is hell bent on tearing this great country apart piece by piece.

When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead and the white knight is talking backwards and the red queens off with their head. Remember what the door mouse said, feed your head.

Steve Colletti, Member of the Public said just a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of standing in Constitutional Hall. The very room where that great document was debated and signed. I marveled what had happened there and the greatness of the men who had been there. Flawed men who disagreed on a lot of points, many did not like many of the others in the room but all had the best interest in the American people at heart, I will be it if flaws in their logic tainted by the times that they lived in, the most obvious being the issue of slavery but all wanting to improve the way men were governed and they wrote a document that allowed continued improvement. You democrats were awfully upset when we took your slaves away. While in Philadelphia I heard a comparison that I found quite interesting. The difference between good leaders and want to be tyrants. The good leaders present solutions that allow the governed to accept or not of their own free will. The want to be tyrants say the apocalypse is coming and we are allowed to do anything to forestall it including control you. I am here today to respond to the absolutely absurd comments made from the dais regarding our attempt to have Realize Las Cruces placed on the ballot.

Some really absurd things came out of your mouths. I don’t have time to address most of them, but I will address the most grievous. Inclusion has never been an

American value, and it never will be. While certain utopian charm that appeals to those on the left, those people haven’t thought it all the way through. Inclusion is an impossibility. What has made American great in all these years is that we are big enough, bold enough, and I dare say great enough to house different valuing systems and different ideal systems under the America umbrella while keeping our different values intact. The bottom line is certain value systems will never mix. Inclusion is merely a word used by the progressive power elite which means, we are going to force our ideas on society by determining which values we deem acceptable and thereby included and then by default which value systems will be excluded. We are on the right are not impressed by your goal of being inclusive. We believe in live and let live but we are not going to give up our values to pander to someone else’s feelings because they can’t achieve their goals on their own. So, no I am not interested in being inclusive. You may say that makes me a segregationist, then that is a badge that I will proudly wear because I stand on my values.

Sylvia Yancy, Member of the Public said I moved to Cruces in 2020, and I have grown to love it here. I have found strong community, great friends that I can rely on and who can rely on me. I am terrified of what is happening in America today. We see people being kidnapped off the streets, away from their families and away from their communities. I am terrified for my friends and even for myself and my family. Police continue to protect our community and do not give into the threats being made by the current Trump Administration. I want to see our community thrive and I am sure you all do too.

Roggie Duff, Member of the Public said I am a member of Las Cruces from District 2.

I wanted to echo what a few of my peers are requesting from you in the council in regard to strengthening the existing policies in namely Resolution 22-059 which is in support to a pathway of citizenship for New Mexico families as well as Resolution 18-

075, where it states that the city of Las Cruces is diverse welcoming community and a city to all immigrants. Namely I just hope that we are considering the values of what makes the city of Las Cruces as hospitable as we try to portray especially our community and country being structured on the backs of immigrants, I want to ensure that we protect those who fighting to keep their rights and voices in this time like this.

Being an immigrant is not a criminal offense on stolen land.

Diane Starbuck, Member of the Public said I am speaking with Animal Advocates for

Change today. I would like to thank the city council and Mayor once again for passing the new Animal ordinance. It is much appreciated. Now that breeding without a license is illegal the city needs to inform the public of rules and regulations of the new ordinance. Education was one of the acknowledged necessities of having a new ordinance and illegal breeding continues to be an issue. It is blatant on Facebook pages, specifically Animals of Las Cruces. People on this site have been told that they are breaking the law, and they don’t seem to care very much. Please uphold the intent of the new ordinance with education of the public and appropriate enforcement.

Jim Hoerst, Member of the Public said I like diversity and inclusion. I think that is what they meant, our founders meant by the phrase E pluribus unum, though many one.

On June 14th of this year in Minnesota John Hoffman and Melissa Hortman were attacked by an assailant with an inflated hatred for Democrats. The assailant shot

John Hoffman seven times and his wife eight times. Fortunately, John Hoffman and his wife survived the attack. On the same day Melissa Hortman and her husband were attacked by the same assailant, he murdered them both. Two legislators, two spouses, two murders. This was only three weeks ago. There is so much news these days that many events that deserve our attention, fade into forgetfulness despite their significance. We recognize the sacrifices and risks taken by law enforcement and first responders. We also need to recognize our elected officials for the bravery, for bravery it takes be an elected public servant these days. I don’t think our elected representatives desire adulation, but they do deserve respect. We must be conscience of their privacy and security particularly concerning their children and spouses. It is inappropriate to discuss where elected officials live on social networks even if you don’t give their address. It is wrong to give general information that could be useful for an attacker. It is wrong to discuss their children or provide any information that might aid an assailant. We must be united in our vigilance to protect them and their families. We must be careful what we post on social networks. The golden rule applies here. If you were an elected official, would you want this information posted about you and your family. I know we can’t agree on many things, but we must agree on this if we wish to have any kind of democratic government. I also want to say a word about immigration. It is not illegal to seek asylum in the

United States. Donald Trump has made asylum a dirty word by associating it with nuts. Asylum is a perfectly legitimate word for a country that has as one of its mottos, give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That is what America stands for, what it stood for, why there are 320 million people who want to live here.

Tim Jenkins, Member of the Public said I come to you today as a citizen of Las

Cruces. You know me, you know who I am. I don’t have to cover my face with a mask to hide my identity as others do. It is outrageous to me to hear the disgusting rhetoric from certain individuals about our Police Department. Let’s set the record straight here. There were no rifles or snipers ever being pointed at elderly people or children.

That is only a tactic used by a certain demographic of people to spread fear and hate against our Police Department. The exact same individuals that came before you all screaming and yelling that the Police Department didn’t do their job in a timely manner at the Young Park shooting are now the exact same people here mad and offended at the Police Department for being there to protect them from any trouble.

You don’t get to have it both ways. Our police force is in no way militarized as some suggest and I want to thank your Police Department for being actively present at

Friday’s protest to keep the community safe despite what some may say. The Las

Cruces Police Department has done an outstanding job this year to gather the community, to bring together, to encourage, and to comfort, and to support this city in every effort to make it safer for all. As for me and my family, we stand with them, we support them, we back them, and we fight right alongside them. And it is highly offensive for certain individuals to come up here and actively degrade our Police

Department to their faces. Our Police Department doesn’t just order people. They are here to protect and to serve the community for the safety of all and I personally have firsthand experience of this every single day with our Police Department. God bless and protect our officers and bring them home safely to their families and their loved ones.

Dana Hopkins, Member of the Public said I live in District 4. I wasn’t planning to speak today, I came to observe but I have now heard two people say that there were no police officers with rifles aimed at a crowd that was protesting, and I was there and yes there were and I am a community elder, and I was standing with children. So yes, there were rifles aimed at us. I could see them. I don’t have this by anecdote or somebody else told me so. I could see them. I saw officers with rifles entering the library and later saw them on the balcony. Beyond that, thank you for your labor, my apologies for my phone going off and what ever that guy’s t-shirt is behind me, my pride flag has a rainbow on it.

4. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Yvonne Flores, to accept the agenda as presented.

RESULT: Carried

MOVER: Councilor Becky Corran

SECONDER: Councilor Yvonne Flores

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

Councilor Becky Corran, and Councilor Yvonne Flores

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham and Councilor Johana Bencomo

5. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 5.1 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 2 AND JUNE 16, 2025.

6. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR CONSENT AGENDA 6.1 RESOLUTION NO. 26-001: A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT A GRANT

AGREEMENT FROM THE NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF

TRANSPORTATION, MUNICIPAL ARTERIAL PROGRAM, FOR THE

FISCAL YEAR 2025/2026, FOR EAST LOHMAN AVENUE/SOUTH WALNUT

STREET SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $225,000,

REQUIRING A CITY MATCH IN THE AMOUNT OF $75,000, FOR A TOTAL

PROJECT COST OF $300,000. 6.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-002: A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE CITY’S

PURCHASE OF A 72 SQUARE FOOT TRACT OF LAND OWNED BY THE

CAROLINE A. RYAN TRUST LOCATED AT 647 WEST MOUNTAIN

AVENUE, FOR THE PURCHASE PRICE OF ONE THOUSAND THREE

HUNDRED DOLLARS ($1,300) AS PART OF THE NORTH MELENDRES

STREET RECONSTRUCTION PHASE II PROJECT. 6.3 RESOLUTION NO. 26-003: A RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION 25-

149 UPDATING THE PARK DEVELOPMENT FEES, LAND USE

ASSUMPTIONS, AND PARK CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN TO

RECTIFY A TECHNICAL ERROR IDENTIFIED IN EXHIBIT "A".

7. RESOLUTION(S) AND/OR ORDINANCE(S) FOR DISCUSSION 7.1 PUBLIC HEARING REQUIRED. RESOLUTION NO. 26-004: A

RESOLUTION APPROVING THE REQUEST FOR A RESTAURANT A –

BEER AND WINE LIQUOR LICENSE WITH ON PREMISES CONSUMPTION

TO JIM BOBS BBQ, LLC., D/B/A JIM BOBS BBQ LOCATED AT 8960 ZIA

BOULEVARD, LAS CRUCES, NM. 88005. Public hearing began at 2 p.m. There was no one for or against. The public hearing ended at 2 p.m.

Adam Ochoa, Senior Planner gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Yvonne Flores, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-004.

Councilor Johana Bencomo, Councilor Becky Corran, and Councilor Yvonne

Flores

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham 7.2 RESOLUTION NO. 26-005: A RESOLUTION APPROVING AMENDMENTS

TO THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY

OF LAS CRUCES AND THE LAS CRUCES POLICE OFFICERS'

ASSOCIATION. Jose Vargas, Assistant Director of Human Resources gave the overhead presentation.

Councilor Flores asked if there is a mistake, a typo, we have to do an amendment? I just want to say that 40 hours’ leave is insufficient for members of our LCPD. I shared this before where I attended a symposium for lack of a better word for all county, local, police enforcement and it was over a period of a day or two or maybe three days and I sat through that and heard the author of a book whose name I don’t remember and I don’t remember the book but my point here is for you all to go out and buy that book and read it but my point is believe me when I tell you that police officers don’t have it easy at all and I have met some police officers, not necessarily here but one of them is a nephew of mine who was police officer for LAPD and he left, he said I will never become a police officer again. He went into law school. I want to thank the LCPD for their efforts, for their work. When my mother died, she died at home and they were in the house because it was a crime scene or under investigation and the other person that stood there the whole night was Chief Enriquez. I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and everything was anti-cops you know, we called them pigs and my father was appalled. I just have to say that inspite of everything when something happens in your home or, to one of your children or to something at school, who do you call? The person who was perhaps demonstrating against something, no you call the police officer or police department.

Councilor Bencomo said we obviously have three collective bargaining agreements with police, fire, and the blue-collar union. On the issue of holiday pay and things like that, how do we maintain uniformity across the city structure? Does sort of everyone have to negotiate themselves and what happens for non-represented members of the city?

Jose Vargas said for negotiated contracts, that is part of the negotiations process each one would have their own negotiating procedures to determine what it is they want to negotiate and how they want to go about that and then for unrepresented it would be city management that would make that determination.

Councilor Corran asked there are three different types of leave, correct?

Jose Vargas said correct.

Councilor Corran asked this is one type that is not vacation or sick leave, right?

Jose Vargas said correct. This is the third type, personal leave.

Councilor Corran said I just wanted to clarify. Councilor Flores that they have other leave as well. This isn’t the only leave. There are other types of leave that are not part of this conversation right now. The city unrepresented folks at 16 hours so this a change from that to that. So, I just wanted to clarify to make sure that I understood which type of leave it is and then for clarification we have to change both the preamble to the resolution and the actual resolution are the two edits that we have to make or can we just change it on the actual resolution document?

Christine Rivera, City Clerk said we can change the body of the resolution itself since

that is what you are approving and then the other would just be an administrative.

Councilor McClure asked what are the others allowed by New Mexico Peace

Officers? Can you give me a couple of examples? I don’t know if OIR falls into that or anything like that?

Jeremy Story, Police Chief said the Peace Officer Employer/Employee Relations Act is obviously state statute that sets kind of the parameters of when you can interrogate an officer, what time, how many people can be present, for how long, and so it doesn’t necessarily restrict who can be in there although it does restrict a number of people that can be in the room, things like that. That statute would give you more information on everything that is contained.

David Guererro, Union President LCPD said with this we looked into it because of the mental health aspect for officers, a lot of agencies around the state are doing similar mental health things to help officers keep them in this kind of situation, like Bernalillo

County is actually giving officers everyday two hours for mental health or physical fitness. It is something to keep them going. We looked at this as a beneficial for officers so that they could have the two weeks off to just recuperate and get their mind back from the struggles that we go through, and this is what we looked at for now for this small negotiations because we actually have the big negotiations coming up for the big contract that we will be coming up with. I would like to get with all of you guys if you guys ever have a chance to from here till then so that we can discuss some of the other changes that we are looking into. Especially for the benefit of officers. I grew up in this city. I am from this city. I grew up in the bad parts of the city. I changed the way I was. I can say that I am the juvenile that we want, the one who got the second chance. I got the second chance. I decided to serve my country. After I served my country I came back to give back to my city that gave me that second chance and with everything that we are looking at with our city I want to give back to our department and this is why I took this position is because we are struggling to keep officers here and there is really not anything now that is drawing people to our city to become law enforcement officers and that is what I would like to change to give them that benefit and give them an opportunity to come to our city so that we can thrive together. Not just the Police Department but our city as well. Everything that has gone on this year alone is showing us that we are going in the wrong direction, and I think that if we were to come together for this next negotiation, we can draw more officers to our city and we can prosper better in that situation.

Councilor Bencomo asked since officer brought up sort of the big negotiations, can you remind us of when those will begin and some of the parameters around that?

Jose Vargas said for the full contract itself we are now in the time period where either party can request to open up those negotiations because the contract does expire on

October 3rd of this year. So, we are now within that time period to begin that.

Councilor Bencomo said I just wanted to remind all of us that once those are open we are not able to talk to union representatives about the contract.

Jose Vargas said that is correct.

Lucas Herndon, Member of the Public said this is from the City of Las Cruces website, specifically on Elevate Las Cruces. The city’s comprehensive plan is an overarching policy document serving as guide for the future growth and development of our community. The current comprehensive plan Elevate Las Cruces was unanimously approved by city council on February 18th, 2020. The Elevate Las Cruces comprehensive plan is our community’s unified policy guide and action plan for enhancing Las Crucens long time prosperity and happiness by building a city that is environmentally, fiscally, and socially sustainable. From today’s agenda item that you’re addressing under support information, committee board review, does this amend the budget? Does this action amend Capital Improvement? There is a section that says, does this action align with Elevate Las Cruces? I would like the record to reflect that the box is marked no. It does not. Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to amend Resolution 26-005 to change the 40 hours to 80 hours.

SECONDER: Councilor Johana Bencomo

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Yvonne Flores, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-005 as amended.

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham 7.3 RESOLUTION NO. 26-006: 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

FY2025 BUDGET. Gaby Prats, Grant Manager gave the overhead presentation. Councilor Yvonne Flores moved, seconded by Councilor Cassie McClure, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-006.

MOVER: Councilor Yvonne Flores

SECONDER: Councilor Cassie McClure

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham 7.4 RESOLUTION NO. 26-007: A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE FY2026-2031

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM.

Cynthia Alamillo, CIP Manager gave the overhead presentation.

Dominic Soucy, Battalion Chief continued the overhead presentation.

Councilor Flores asked the amount now will probably go up once you get someone in there to do the ADA adjustments?

BC Dominic Soucy said we don’t know. We are anticipating this will cover it. That is the anticipation. We have a design that was just sent over this morning. We are getting the Fire Chief to look at it and see if everybody is good with it and then we will get a quote from the construction company on kind of how much it would cost to get this work done.

Councilor Flores asked the money allocated at this point will take care of that or that is your belief?

BC Dominic Soucy said that is the anticipation, yes.

Councilor Corran said I just wanted to mention that we have an upcoming conversation about what we are going to spend our capital infrastructure money on, and I would really like us to be proactive and make sure that our fire stations are better than livable. Obviously, mold means not livable I think, so this is an example of this, but so I think we have seen roof, we have seen a horror show of pictures frankly.

Not that I am holding you to account to that. I think am holding us to account and I hope part of our conversation about the infrastructure can be about capital investments and fire station living quarters because I really don’t want to see these pictures and hear tales of mold and/or tetanus or whatever else I think you guys have been facing, I would like us to prioritize that in that conversation that we have coming up in August. So, I just want to speak to that. Again, please come and ask, we would like to make sure things are happening so if you have more pictures bring them, I guess but I would like us to not have these pictures moving forward if we can really be proactive in that way I would appreciate it.

Councilor Bencomo asked I couldn’t agree with more about the GRT conversation, and you know when we talk about public safety, that has to include the living quarters for one of our public safety agencies, right? You know we have obviously seen this. I have seen leaky roofs during the rainy days we have had recently like that and I don’t know specifically at what station. It is my understanding at during this renovation folks are using some portable bathrooms?

BC Dominic Soucy said they have external showers.

Councilor Bencomo asked that is unacceptable, right? When we talk about mental health, when we talk about caring for our folks, I think the infrastructure has to be a priority. I hate to ask this question, but I am wondering if you are now nervous finding mold at Station 4 that there is potential of other stations to have similar issues.

BC Dominic Soucy said maybe but the other stations have had remodels done that

are not that old. This one is one that I don’t want to say slipped through the cracks, but this is probably our worst station. I am not thinking that we are going to find it at the other stations to the extent that we found it here. It doesn’t look like it.

Councilor Bencomo said obviously you know one of the big priorities has been new fire stations, especially ones to serve members of the public that haven’t had that service quite yet and to ensure that our response times stay good in all of that and I just think yes, new stations are important but we must take care of our current infrastructure for sure.

BC Dominic Soucy said while I am up here, I would like to say that Public Works and

Facilities has been great. Since we have been finding these problems and working through them it has been moving along really fast with their help.

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

Approve Resolution No. 26-007.

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham 7.5 RESOLUTION NO. 26-008: A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE BOUNDARY

OF THE EL PASEO AND SOUTH SOLANO METROPOLITAN

REDEVELOPMENT AREA TO DESIGNATE AN ADDITIONAL AREA FOR

INCLUSION WITHIN THE MRA, MAKING CERTAIN FINDINGS AND

DETERMINATIONS PURSUANT TO THE METROPOLITAN

REDEVELOPMENT CODE. Blairre Flores, Economic Development Coordinator gave the overhead presentation.

Allie Caskey, Sites Southwest continued the overhead presentation.

Blairre Flores continued the overhead presentation.

Councilor Flores asked can you go back to slide 5 please? On the community responses for the community survey, you had the 2,000 attend? But on the community design and listening sessions, well the listening sessions stakeholder meetings, were they an open forum, was it in person? It doesn’t show how many people participated.

Blairre Flores said the stakeholder meetings were in person, and we did also hold the public meetings in person as well. The community survey was collected through different avenues including mail out survey, we had the survey online, we hosted a

Casa de Peregrinos food drive where we had locals fill out the survey as well.

Councilor Flores asked do you have the numbers on the meetings and the responses

you had to the Design Committee Workshop?

Bliarre Flores said all of that is included in the plan.

Councilor Mattiace said can you give me a description of the make-up of how you are going to seek out the MRA Committee?

Blairre Flores said the internal committee will be comprised of Directors of each department or whoever they choose as department representatives and also

Economic Development will be running that MRA Committee. We will be deciding the capacity, funding opportunities, and any project prioritizations as well.

Councilor Mattiace asked in other words that committee will all be internal, it will be our staff?

Blairre Flores said yes it will be internal and any recommendation that the committee comes up with they will present towards the council.

Councilor Mattiace asked you don’t see any of the public members serving on that committee?

Blairre Flores said as of right now no.

Councilor McClure asked I just wanted to make sure that we are leveraging opportunities like with the Boys and Girls Club to make sure like say get with the

County and figure out some solutions. I know that anti-donation is a huge issue that we have to overcome but it feels like the MRA could be an opportunity to get this catalytic program, specifically Boys and Girls Club started a little bit faster maybe two years from now, be in the next six months. I just hope we look at that and get buy in and actually seeing things happen. I think you all have kind of gotten my sentiment on that, but I just want to make sure about that for the record.

Elizabeth Teeters, Economic Development Director said you are correct that we want to try to assist non-profits, businesses, everybody within the MRA and while the MRA does give flexibility we still have to operate within the parameters of the MRA State

Statute and it says in order to give funds to a non-profit organizations, local development corporations, or entities organized under the federal Small Business

Investment Act we have to it through grants. So there has to be some kind of competitive mechanism in place which the MRA Committee will be the one who actually comes up with all of this and comes up with the way we can give out these funds when the time comes.

Councilor Flores asked are the MRAs aware of the fact that they can seek additional funds?

Elizabeth Teeters said so when the time comes and we actually come up with the programming and we actually have an official programming in place, like Blairre said

we have $100,000 for a pilot program this year. We plan on doing a full marketing campaign to make sure that they know they can apply for these funds, but we don’t actually have programs in place at this point.

Councilor Flores asked the prospective Boys and Girls Club, would they be included, for example would they be included in that information?

Elizabeth Teeters said yes, they would be included but the $100,000 is going to be used for a safety improvement program. While we are going to be applying for the tax increment and getting tax increment funds it is going to take a few years to actually to get the ball rolling on that so other than the $100,000 that is really the funding we have to get these programs started.

George Pearson, Member of the Public said I have been participating in this and it is a very good program and I am looking forward to its implementation. I do have a question on some of the details. With the first resolution you are going to increase the size of the area but the document has the maps for the smaller area, by passing the increase size does that mean that the maps will automatically, that staff can just change those or do you need to direct staff with an amendment to update the maps for the new area?

Allie Caskey said I would say that a lot of our illustrative maps don’t necessarily define that area or boundary so we might have a few maps to update with this new boundary, but a lot of the content is focused around maps that aren’t necessarily defined by this boundary. The plan itself was written with the boundary with extension in mind and so we can ensure that all of the maps reflect the latest boundary.

Michael Harris, Member of the Public said I have seen this MRA presentation several times at several meetings now and done the surveys and everything. Clearly there is a lot of thought and community involvement has gone into the overall strategy. The area is a big part of the district I live in and most of the things I would have wanted to say now and in the past are already in there, but I still have a couple of comments that are worth emphasizing. The first is that we shouldn’t lose sight of small projects, one streetlight, one crosswalk, restriping lanes, flex post. These are very cheap ways to have a big impact in the area and maybe achieve some of the goals without waiting for the bigger funding. Another one is no projects, and I think this was brought up in another meeting also. Too often we get tunnel vision for big funding and we get trapped into when we are talking about housing especially as part of this plan, we get trapped into upper case A, affordable housing projects and sometimes this makes us miss out on much, much more, lower case a, affordable housing projects. We need abundant housing and closing the gap of different styles and options like townhomes, casitas, starter homes more effective than maybe chasing a couple of big complexes, big subsidized housing projects. Mixed income neighborhoods that have lots of options are very nice, are very nice places to live and in my neighborhood in particular there is lots of options and everyone gets along and cares for their place. So, like I said overall I think it is a great vision and I support the designation and want to see it leverage to its full potential. Councilor Yvonne Flores moved, seconded by Councilor Becky Corran, to

suspend the rules and listen to both concurrently.

SECONDER: Councilor Becky Corran

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-008.

ABSENT: Councilor Becki Graham 7.6 RESOLUTION NO. 26-009: A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE EL PASEO

AND SOUTH SOLANO METROPOLITAN REDEVELOPMENT AREA PLAN Councilor Becky Corran moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to

Approve Resolution No. 26-009.

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 am glad to be back, enjoyed our trip to represent Las Cruces in Nienburg. I just want to quickly say that inclusion is very important, and I wonder how a lot of us got here and to hear that people don’t want that is remarkable to me. 10.2 COUNCILOR MATTIACE

I just wanted to give a kudos and recognition to Leticia Sanchez-Freeman, I know

Catrina and Scott have worked with her quite a lot. She is making her home in El

Paso now, but she was actually a captain of a neighborhood association and very instrumental of putting meetings together for the neighborhood associations as well as

Crescent Park and other associations. She will be missed. Her leadership is important. I think with the MRAs it is important that the neighborhood associations and the people that are concerned with the safety and the conditions of their neighborhoods should be maybe notified by the committee and at least share the progress that the committee is making with these neighborhood associations. I think

Leticia will be very missed, but we have others, Nancy Hastings. I just want to make a comment for the work that Scott and Catrina do for the neighborhood associations is amazing and just like we had this gentleman today coming up from Gardner, we need to contact him and I am sure Chief Story will put him on the list and see what is going on in that particular neighborhood but just a word to the neighborhoods in the city of

Las Cruces, if you could actually band together, get together and watch each other, incorporate Ring in you systems and let neighbors know if there is people in those streets and neighborhoods that you feel may be suspect of bringing harm to your neighborhood. It is important to have the associations and build them. It keeps your neighborhood safe, and it also communicates with the City of Las Cruces and gets a lot of services that we can offer not only from LCPD, but the Fire Department, Codes, and behavioral health for those who are in need in that neighborhood. 10.3 COUNCILOR CORRAN I want to thank all of the staff that got together and got the East Mesa Pool back up and running. I know that was a lot of folks collaborating and joining together to get that open for people to swim back this weekend so thank you to all of the city staff that made that happen.

I just want to thank the Animal Services Center. They did a lot of work in the last few weeks to try and alleviate their influx of strays after the traumatic fireworks of last week and I am excited for a number of their really cool programs that are helping get animals out of the shelter and I just signed up today. You can apparently take your dog to the ice cream store or the brewery they recommend. To get them out of the shelter for a few hours. I urge folks that they are laboring under an enormous weight of animals coming in right now and anything that you can do to support them in reducing that means a lot to the animals there. 10.4 COUNCILOR FLORES Over the weekend I read in the newspaper that the AMR contract was not renewed, and that the county did not renew it as well? So, I am just wondering what recourse or what is the city going to do?

Mayor Enriquez said we will be having a Work Session on that next week. 10.5 COUNCILOR BENCOMO I want to thank the Fire Department for having us over at the Fire Academy

Graduation for Academy 38. It was a very beautiful event. I really love to attend those and to watch families and their loved ones walk that stage and just on another note, thank you for doing it at the Rio Grande. I hope that worked out well and I hope you

continue to do it there because I thought and no shade to DACC, it has been great doing it there, but it was really wonderful to have it at the Rio Grande and thank you

Chief Daniels and congratulations on your first academy as Fire Chief.

I want to remind folks that I will continue to have some office hours after hours. I will not be holding them this Tuesday, I am out of town but I will hold them the following

Tuesdays in July at 5 p.m. to 6, right outside in the conference room across the way here in the lobby and a huge thank you for Scott and Catrina for helping me organize those and helping me help constituents who come by and visit. So please come by, again I won’t be there July 8th, but I will be there July 15th, 22nd, and 29th.

I think one of the things I wanted to ask regarding the MRA and the Boys and Girls

Club that I think potentially can get us started and to what Councilor McClure was saying in this big catalyst project, I would love from the City Manager’s Office to see if we can get some sort of report on what is expected their impact fees to be and potentially think about waiving those whether it is park impact fees, utilities, public safety, whatever it is I am curious as to what those are amounted to be and if there is something we can do there to support them as they continue to fundraise and build some of that out. So, I would love to know those numbers before we make those decisions. I truly have no idea.

Just the last thing I wanted to say is on a national level. You know I always really loved and respected and honored that often our administration and operations. I always respect that we have a very clear focus on the operations of our city. That is our priority and often I noticed that we don’t always get sort of distracted if you will by the national politics, by the national narratives that are happening in Congress or wherever and sometimes I think that is really important. Unfortunately, now I don’t think we get to have that privilege. Last week the so called Big Beautiful Bill passed.

The bill passed and I think it is important for us to recognize the impact that it will have on New Mexicans, and on Las Crucens specifically. I think that it really important and I am going to name some of the reasons why, but I have a specific ask around this. In the bill it is expected that Medicaid will be cut about 12%. That amounts to perhaps 11 million to 12 million Americans will lose coverage. SNAP benefits or food stamps will be significantly reduced and again thousands if not millions will lose food stamp benefits. Again, the most vulnerable in our community and this is just some of the key pieces. There is obviously a lot of really harmful pieces in this piece of legislation but I am naming the ones that are more critical. Border enforcement and deportations, I don’t know another way to say this, but they have an absurd increase, about $150 to $175 billion over several years, we will go to funding for ICE and increased detention.

That is to round up our neighbors, Las Crucens, people who work here, live here, pray here, go to school here, pay our GRT here, those folks and amongst many other things. For New Mexicans that may be, 100,000 New Mexicans are projected to lose

Medicaid coverage and about 60,000 New Mexicans are likely to lose their SNAP benefits. Again, these are our most vulnerable neighbors, and I think it is important that the city understand these and what the consequences of this legislation will be and for our City Manager I would really love to understand from our state and federal lobbyists what their sort of analysis is on how we should be prepare. Certainly, from

Larry, I think it is important we understand if there will be a special session at the legislature and how we best can be involved in that and so how we advocate for our

own residents and for federal lobbyists really just thinking about what this means, how to prepare and what more is coming. Ultimately, I think this bill and the intention behind this bill, honestly it does not care about Las Crucens. It cares about wealthy interests and so we have to care, we have to care a lot more and I just think it is really important that we are just acutely aware of what is going to happen and how it is going to impact our community. So that is my request for City Manager’s Office so that all of us know how to be better municipal leaders during this time. 10.6 MAYOR ENRIQUEZ Just a few things that I want to bring up, first of all thank you to Economic

Development and all the staff that helped out with MRAs. This is truly something that is going to help revitalize our city, places that have been neglected to bring them back up so that it can be a thriving community. Thank you to the consultant and everybody else with the city who was involved and our residents who partook in the surveys and the meetings. It is going to be great so thank you and I will look forward to the continued work.

I wanted to give a special thanks and I hope everyone had a very happy 4th of July. It was 249. Next year will be the big one, 250 years of celebration. All the planning, the organizing, the keeping us safe, so a special shoutout to Parks & Rec for all of their work with the Light Parade and then the event with the entertainment, the food, and everything that took place. Thank you, Steve and your staff, everyone that helped out and police and fire, thank you for the safety during this time. There was a lot of people out there, Solano was lined up. There was thousands of people at NMSU and thank you NMSU for the partnership and allowing us the location. It was a great event, thank you all.

Now what I want is to recognize a local hero and the book that is coming out. This is a book called Peaceful Warrior. It is the Canaan Bower story. His parents are in the audience here today. We will definitely recognize them in a little bit but for those who don’t recall in 2020, a sixteen-year-old wrestling champion ran into a dangerous situation as everyone was running away. Canaan Bower stopped an active kidnapping attempt and saved a woman’s life and her three children. Those that were close to Canaan said it is not surprising it was just another day for Canaan doing the right thing and loving people. Canaan received many accolades including a Canaan

Bower Day of Valor by the county and recognition from Carnegie Hall as a real-life hero. Dana White, CEO of the UFC calls Canaan a superhero. A movie is currently being written, and the script is in the top 5% in a worldwide competition judged by movie producers and directors. After much encouragement from the community and beyond, the family has put in the effort to proceed the upcoming movie with a book.

We have opted to make this affordable and to apply proceeds towards the Canaan

Legacy Scholarship to promote our youth. The author contacted Amazon, and they are going to make Kindle downloads free today in observance of Canaan’s birthday, which is today July 7th. Canaan is no longer with us sadly, but Canaan would have been 22 years old today. To the parents of Canaan, Mr. and Mrs. Bower, please stand up. I would like to recognize you. Like I said we look forward to this book when it comes out. I am looking forward to reading it myself and hopefully we can get that movie going and display it in our International Film Festival when it takes place and showcase that and show what a true hero your son was.

11. CITY MANAGER REPORT 11.1 JC BORREGO, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER We will start with our Quality of Life Department. The Juneteenth event sponsored by the Las Cruces Museums along with several partners including NMSU drew an estimated 700 people during the week including events at the Branigan Cultural

Center, the downtown plaza, and NMSU, and other venues around town.

Nearly 900 people signed up for the summer reading program at the Las Cruces

Public Library which ends this Saturday, July 12th at the Sage Café branch from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Featured presenters will be a mermaid and a youth magician. The public is loving our new exhibits for children and youth that were recently installed by our vendor at the Museum of Nature and Science including the Journey to Pluto. A new kiosk with railroad elements was placed at the Railroad Museum as well.

The Utilities Board Work Session is July 10th beginning at 1 p.m. at the joint Utilities

Building off Motel Boulevard. The Work Session will be discussing draft utilities master plan and the energy decarbonization transition plan.

Beginning today Monday, July 7th applications are now open for the next LCPD academy class. It will be open until September 8th, 2025.

Parks and Rec, we are excited to announce upcoming public events for the Young

Park master plan which will focus on a refresh of the park. The event scheduled will begin Friday, July 18th, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Lynn Middle School

Cafeteria and then on Saturday July 19th, 2025, at the Las Cruces Farmers Market downtown on Main Street. Look for us near the Bank of the West and that will be throughout the Farmers Market.

Public Works, the EV charging stations project is complete. This includes installation of a dual EV charging port at the following city locations, at the airport, at Fire Station

1, East Mesa Public Safety off Sonoma Ranch Boulevard, the Las Cruces Police

Station off Picacho Avenue, the Hadley Complex and here at City Hall.

We have got a couple of awards. One, IT and the City Clerk received an award for

Laserfiche, it is the Laserfiche team. It is national recognition as a model for onboarding by Laserfiche Aspire. The other one was Visit Las Cruces announces that

Las Cruces makes CNN’s America’s Best Towns to Visit in 2025, ranked at number seven. High scores for blends of cultures, jaw dropping scenery, outdoor access and an abundance of day trips.

Mayor Enriquez said thank you Visit Las Cruces. I read that article, and it is great to see what they are doing and how they are promoting Las Cruces. It is truly a great reflection of our community, and we really appreciate all the work that you do and congratulations to our City Clerk and IT.

12. ADJOURNMENT

12.1 Councilor Yvonne Flores moved, seconded by Councilor Johana Bencomo, to adjourn at 3:17 p.m.

Mayor

City Clerk