Silver City Town Councilor Cynthia Ann Bettison announced her candidacy for Mayor, Town of Silver City, in the upcoming March 1, 2016 municipal election on her Facebook account over a week ago. Bettison was reelected to the District 1 Council seat this past March by a wide margin. She has served on the Town Council for seven years beginning in 2009, and is in the middle of her fourth consecutive two-year term and her sixth council-elected consecutive one-year term as Mayor Pro Tem. She has been a resident of District 1 for over 17 years.

€œI am very passionate, committed and dedicated in my service as an elected official of the Town of Silver City. As Mayor I want to continue to move Silver City forward, building upon the excellent leadership of our current Mayor, Town Council, and committed town staff, to work on several initiatives that will celebrate Silver City's creativity, increase use of underutilized commercial properties within the Town, and foster local economic development through public/private partnerships. I will encourage and support Town staff in their efforts to make Silver City a truly business-friendly community through the development of effective and enhanced resources, tools, and service and updating some sections and some wording of the Land Use Code to meet changing conditions. €

Bettison says her campaign slogan, €œMoving Silver City Forward, € which she unveiled on her Facebook account early last week, is an expression of her vision for Silver City. She looks forward to engaging residents in conversations about her vision for the Town and plans to accomplish the vision via various social media platforms, additional press releases, and €œMeet the Candidate € forums.

During her seven years as District 1 Councilor, Bettison said she is honored to serve on Town Councils that have rebuilt Penny Park after two devastating fires, completely overhauled the Land Use Code, created the Vistas de Plata Affordable Housing Development, installed a solar array at the waste water treatment plant saving an estimated $6 million over 20 years, secured a $6 million bond without a tax increase for quality of life projects, reduced the use of single-use plastic carryout bags saving Town residents $180,000 and enabling the renewal of the Southwest Solid Waste Authority landfill permit, and prohibited texting while driving before the State of New Mexico did. She has sponsored successful legislation including, prohibiting the single-point tethering of dogs and defining animal care, the reduction of single-use plastic carryout bags, and a 2010 resolution requesting that State Legislators oppose the repeal of the Hold Harmless provisions of the Gross Receipts Tax. She has co-sponsored legislation prohibiting Aggressive Begging, restricting firework purchase and use to specific holiday periods, and permitting backyard chickens.

Bettison says she continues to take advantage of every educational opportunity and training offered by the New Mexico Municipal League to increase her knowledge and understanding of the concerns and issues faced by municipalities, and knowledge of municipal governance and state statutes in order to better serve Silver City residents. In 2010 she received Certified Municipal Official status from the NM Municipal League.

An active member of the NM Municipal League, in September she was reelected by League member municipalities to her third two-year term as a Director-at-Large of the New Mexico Municipal League Board of Directors, giving a much-needed voice to the unique needs of Silver City and the need to preserve municipal revenues. Bettison was recently reappointed to the Municipal Tax Reform Committee (formerly known as the NMML Tax Task Force). She serves as the NMML Board Liaison for the Community, Economic Development, Governmental Operations & Human Resources Policy Committee, and as a member of the NMML Budget and the NMML Resolutions Committees.

Bettison moved to Silver City almost 25 years ago to become the director of Western New Mexico University Museum. She quickly became involved in local civic groups and non- profit organizations carrying on a family tradition in volunteerism. She is a member of the Grant County Prospectors, the Silver City Rotary Club, the Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce, and Chapter AG of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She is past president of the Silver City Rotary Club and Assistant District Governor of Rotary District 5520, and former board member of the Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to becoming District 1 Councilor, Bettison was a member of the Town of Silver City Lodgers Tax Committee and Incentive Review Committee.

Bettison says her service on the Town Council and the NMML Board of Directors €œflows naturally from the desire to serve the residents of Silver City and advocate for the needs of New Mexico municipalities, especially Silver City, at the state level. €

As Mayor, her goals include, in addition to the initiatives mentioned, €œcontinuing the excellent collaborative work that the Council has been doing to ensure our town is sustainable into the future, and to continue to be a good financial steward of the town's budget making certain, despite the significant reductions in municipal revenues our Town is facing due to the repeal of the Hold Harmless Gross Receipts Tax Distribution, that priority is placed on maintaining the health, safety, and welfare of all the Town's residents through essential services, and preserving quality of life services. €

Bettison received her doctorate in anthropology with a specialization in archaeology of arid lands at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a Registered Professional Archaeologist, and maintains professional affiliation with the Society of American Archaeology, the American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, University Museums and Collections, Small Museum Administrators Committee, and the Register of Professional Archaeologists. She serves as an appointed member of the Society for American Archaeology's Committee on Museums, Collections and Curation, and as board member of the American Alliance of Museum's Small Museum Administrators Committee. She is a past president of the New Mexico Association of Museums.