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Published: 28 February 2018 28 February 2018

[Editor's Note: This was written from a recording as have others this past week.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

Silver City Town Council District 4 candidates answered questions at a forum put on by the Silver City Daily Press and moderated by the Daily Press publisher, Nickolas Seibel, with audience questions and others from Daily Press reporter Ben Fisher.

Incumbent Guadalupe Cano gave the first opening address. "I am completing my second term since I came on in 2014. This will be my last term. I believe in term limits. The first term is for education and that's when I became a certified municipal officer, which prepares you to be a good officer. My second term was one of enlightenment. I learned what my voice is and how to use it. The third term will be a term of authority. I want to deal with policy changes, especially safety, not only for police officers and firefighters, but for the community."

She said the town is promoting tourism, and she reflected on who lives in Silver City. "It's really important to me. It includes five groups-seniors, the disabled, the low-income, Hispanics and those who were born and raised here. Sometimes we natives feel it has changed so much we don't recognize it anymore."

Nicholas Prince is challenging Cano for the District 4 councilor seat. He said it was heartening to see people come out to the forum. "I'm here to be able to open the conversations about what we want our municipal government to look like."

"Civic engagement takes only the ability to do things asked of us," Prince said a Western New Mexico University sociology professor had said at a recent forum. "Are we ready to move on issues to make the best town we can be? I want to introduce public policy and make it accessible to the residents. Safety is the No. 1 priority. The government is here to gather issues that we want to see come forth."

Fisher asked the first of several questions from the Daily Press. "Each district features its own shape, demographics and history. What do you see as different about District 4?"

Prince said it was geographically disparate from some of the others. "It's really hilly. It makes it difficult for things at the Recreation Center. The district is an area where people work and live. We need to incentivize them to have their own homes. The new roadways in the area are good to see."

Cano said Prince had described the southern part of the district. "The northern part has the hospital. Many of my constituents are concerned about Pine Street. It has many potholes and no sidewalks. When the town started Vistas de Plata in the southern part of the district, we didn't realize how the building would impact residents. Rain washes down and messes up yards. I'm worried about protecting those homes."

An audience question asked how well the city is doing in balancing attracting tourists and transplants and how to market to made downtown more inviting to natives of Silver City, who feel alienated.

Cano said she agreed that the town is not doing a good job balancing the disconnect between natives and transplants. "The new MainStreet Project manager Charmeine Wait is not a native, but she understands that without the natives, Silver City will not thrive. One of my goals is to get locals more involved, to get the locals and transplants to work together."

Prince said he sees a marked improvement over when he moved to the area seven years ago. "I mainly service people who live here. We need to keep the currency in circulation in the town. We have to make sure we address gentrification. We aren't looking at high costs per square foot yet, but we need to address the issue and be cognizant of making sure to encourage first time homeowners, so locals can stay here and not be priced out. I don't want to see that."

The next question Seibel said came right out of the headlines. "Given the recurring mass shootings, does Silver City have plans in place to protect citizens and visitors at events?"

Prince said in Chicago, where he came from, handguns had been banned since 1964. "Here we have little public violence but much domestic violence. I don't know if the municipality has gun laws, but we have good law enforcement. There's a lot of talk nationally, but a lot of people here own guns. Public events, other than a few scuffles, have been great here."

Cano said she doesn't know of any specific laws. "Our police officers won't tell us what they are going to do to protect us at events. They shouldn't tell us. Our police department acts pretty quickly and gets the information out to the medial. Planning for events has to be in place before the event."

Fisher asked how much emphasis should be put on tourism. "Will it ever be enough to replace jobs lost when the mines close and how can the town bolster tourism?"

Cano said tourism is very important, but "it probably won't replace mine jobs. We need to talk about other ways to diversify. We don't have enough hotel rooms for events now, and people have to stay in Lordsburg or Deming. I think the town is interested in targeting other demographics. Eco-tourism is great, but we need to find a way for people to spend money here."

Prince said tourism is not the be-all, end-all. "Resource extraction is a basic job. We need diversification. People come here to spend time with us. It's mostly a downtown question, but we have the possibility to host events all over town. We have an uptick in Airbnb rentals, but we're missing the taxes on them. We need to work inside the communities."

Seibel asked a follow up. "Look at Silver City. It's divided lots of different ways. New folks are into arts and the outdoors. Multigenerational folks have less interest toward tourism. As a role to bridge the divide so long-time residents benefit, is a transition toward a more tourism-based economy going to work?"

Prince said that would be a "tough nut to crack. We need to reach out to economic development to talk about the issue. I'm not sure any community has been able to address it. It's a crowding out thing. We need to work to avoid that. I think there are two answers, education and empowerment. Tourism is only one facet. If a person wants to be in medical care, it takes years of education. If a person wants to be in the arts, they have to hone their craft. People need to know how, if they are used to working in one kind of job, they can learn to be able to also work in other types of economies. If we can't pass the knowledge down to generations, we will lose it."

Cano said; "Yes, there is a role for municipalities. I invite the ones who have been here for their whole lives to things all the time and they show up. For those who are raising families, it is a challenge. I'm involved with Senior Olympics and the Chicano Music Festival, which specifically targets local families. Building a network in those two has helped me reach out to get to know the transplants."

A question asked the candidates to describe ways they will represent the diverse groups in their district.

"My role the past two terms has been; 'Wait a minute.' I thought: how will this affect the senior who can't carry a paper bag when we were banning plastic bags. How about the person who can't pay the water bill as it rises and afford to eat? We're not thinking of every group when we are thinking about policies. Another way is to network, so people know about what services are out there for them. What is your situation? There are so many non-profits out there doing amazing things. We need to educate people, so they know about them."

Prince said he would go back to education and empowerment. "It's the best way for upward mobility. The easiest choice shouldn't be to pay up and move away. The easier choice should be to get to know people in the neighborhood, own your own home or business and have some say in your day. It's better than people swooping in and buying homes and turning them into rentals that are empty six months a year. It is disgusting to me. How can we reach those not here. A lot of people don't think government is something they can engage in. I think we need to do tangible outreach, so people have a say. You can make your neighborhood what you want it to be."

Fisher asked a question that he had also asked the councilor candidates for District 2. "Town department heads can impact residents with internal policies. What is the balance between the convenience of department staff and public service, if the policies turn out to be detrimental?"

Prince said there is a need to revise "our tools of democracy by pulling questions to ask our constituents. Right now, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. We need to take more time for planning. We need sidewalks. We have to look around our neighborhood and think: 'I'm happy to be here.' The municipality has to work on infrastructure. We need a more proactive appeal to staffs to be the best agents to take pride in tangible happenings."

Cano said: "We have a town manager, Alex Brown. He is the authority over the managers and supervisors. The council is mostly hands off. We have good department heads who are happy to hear about concerns. They are usually open to them. Sometimes, there is no way to address a problem. Brown takes care of what he can. Most department heads have responded to me pretty quickly. We have some good supervisors."

The next question was: "What are your plans/ideas for deteriorating town roads, short-term and long-term?"

"Roads are a problem we are going to continue to have," Cano replied. "The problem is there is not enough money. No one in New Mexico has enough money for roads. I personally believe we need to raise the statewide gas tax. It hasn't been raised since I've been alive, which is a lot of years. If it were raised, the state would have more money to fix roads. Many, myself included, don't know why we use chip seal because it doesn't seem very affective. They fix a pothole, three people drive over it and it's a pothole again. I would like to see us find a better alternative. There has to be something that is more durable. Pine Street is a major example. Another is Little Walnut. The other thing to consider is that we have a list of streets in what order they will be addressed next."

Prince said the town's duty is making sure the roads are fixed, "if the town has enough employees to do them and enough money and materials to fix them. How do we raise funds? Do we have the tools available? I want to make sure we have safe streets and walkable sidewalks. There are options for our funding that councilors need to address. We have to figure out if the money is going to come from our community. We will have to have a conversation and be very transparent. Most people won't mind paying for it."

The next question was: "What is your stand on our weed ordinance and the barking dog problem?"

"One of the things that hurts us as government is we're there to wag the finger," Prince said. "It disproportionately affects people who have fewer resources. Code enforcement too often is used by those with resources to push on those with less. I think the city should be able to offer options beside just fining. Part is tying together resources. Use dog training to train people's dogs. I'm strictly against fines thrown around. Barking dogs bother me just as much, but if I'm not going to offer to help train their dog, what right do I have to complain? As for the weed ordinance, do people have time to take care of their yards? Do we have landscaping companies willing to donate time? Have we asked those questions? I want to make sure code enforcement doesn't become another reason for people to distrust their government. Make sure we take care of the residents. Dog barking is not a reason to not buy food because of a fine or to have to go through the legal system."

"Weeds and dogs are two different things," Cano said. "Weed enforcement is pretty fair. They let us know when they are coming in, so we can let our neighbors know ahead of time. The reason weeds need to be cut is because we are in a fire prone area. My mother's house came this close (a spread of hands) to burning because a neighbor started a fire. I feel like code enforcement is doing a good job. Dogs, if we're not going to find a way to help, then it's a problem. There are irresponsible dog owners. Maybe a fine will make them decide not to have a dog."

"Does the state's surplus oil and gas money trickle down our way?" Seibel answered the audience question: "If we get capital outlay, yes. If we don't get something, then it's mostly no."

Fisher asked; "There have been visible attempts with current Western New Mexico University administration to bridge the gaps between town and gown, with event spaces and work on College Avenue. But still many students do not participate in community events and the economy. Is there any space for the town to work with the university to tie that part to town?"

"Western is a big part of my life," Cano said. "I'm a part of the Alumni Board of Directors. That is a question I hear a lot. MainStreet is working hard to get students involved. They held a 5K run that the town helped sponsor. The cross-country team was part, so lot of students came out. MainStreet is trying to get business owners involved. With a discount or free something, students are more likely to participate. In the past, meals at the university brought townspeople and students. We have mentors who make sure the community supports things at the university, too."

Prince said he liked seeing the purple in the 5K run. "Every time I see purple flying by, it feels like the university is involved. Make sure there is a bridge. If the university is doing something, make sure we participate. If kids want to have a party, have it downtown. We ask you not to come down hard on them when they hold an event at the old Post Office. We need to embolden student leadership, so they have access to downtown."

An audience question asked: "We talked about roads and raising taxes to pay for them. Can you do anything about the ridiculously high gas prices in town? Forty-five minutes to Lordsburg can save you up to 30 cents a gallon."

"It is more to do with basically a monopoly, with what are they call WN Enterprises?" Prince alleged. "Ram drops prices and fills up with folks. If we could get people to raise the tax and drop the price, but we can't force people to do things. Why can't the municipality come up with a better gas station? It would do better for everyone and be a revenue stream. What would it mean to have a publicly owned gas station that sells at affordable prices?"

Cano noted that a gas tax increase would be a legislative issue. "If we feel strong about it, we need to talk to our legislators. Doing something about prices is not our role. Two stations not owned by the same people are where I shop. If a collective group doesn't give them business, prices would come down. It's a community effort."

A question was posed: "To address replacing jobs at the mines and the town's economic development, could we access the untapped market for glass? We do not recycle glass because of the shipment price. I would like to see a business address glass recycling."

"I don't know enough about it," Cano said. "I'm not sure if it would be profitable because it's not profitable now. It's important to look at other economic development to be sustainable and environmentally safe, unlike the mines."

Prince said the glass industries have challenges. "With the different melting temperatures of different types of glass, for instance. If you build with glass, it will last forever. Make it first available by localizing it in one place makes it an option for some business, if it can make it price neutral. If we find a way to incentivize it by defining a partnership or a paid position to deal with it."

Fisher asked: "The town has been battered with cuts from the state and federal governments, especially with the phase out of hold harmless. How can the councilors buffer? Where do we have left to cut?"

Prince said he had not been part of that conversation. "We have lodgers' tax and gross receipts tax. We are not listed as collecting occupancy taxes. I'm not a big fan of sales tax, because it's regressive. We have to come up with a new model. We gotta find ways to benefit the locals. We are not a playground for the privileged who visit only once or twice a year. I think a balance to strike is to bring it to the people and make the taxes progressive ones."

"I work on the finance, intergovernmental and taxation committee at the Municipal League," Cano said. "Our role is to come up with policy we would like to see the Legislature address. The past few years, we've been trying to address hold harmless. If you don't know about hold harmless, it was when the food tax was removed under a prior administration. The municipalities were given money to help offset the loss. This administration has been trying to use that fund to keep the state solvent. The issue for Silver City is that municipalities below the 10,000 population get the funding, but at the last census, we were at 10,300, although since then estimates show that we have fallen below that. We lose $300,000 to $400,000 a month and that will continue to get worse.

"Do we have non-essential services?" Cano asked. "Yes, the museum and the library. Cutting them would be terrible, but that's where we would have to cut."

Another question was: "So many kids have grown up in Silver City or are growing up here. They feel like they have little to do. How can the town support a youth center? With the high teen pregnancy rate and high drug abuse rates, it should be a higher priority."

Cano said the town is limited by the anti-donation state law, "but there are ways we can support it. If I knew the answer, it would be the million-dollar question. When people say there is nothing to do, I think they must be hiding under a rock. Try reading the newspaper to find out what's going on. I think the town could do more with social media. People are not reading about what organizations are working on. They need to approach the town on what they want."

Prince said he misses The Wellness Coalition. "They did so much to make up a workforce. It gave people an on ramp. There are federal programs we can use. I have a really idealized vision of government. I will probably be battered and bruised, but I feel like there is a role for government to be able to say: 'We value our kids. We want to reduce harm.' I think we should hand out condoms. Focus on public space, do eminent domain, get a dollar a month rent."

The next question asked what the role of the Town Council looks like in incentivizing business.

Prince said he always worries about government and business getting involved together because one can end up getting burned. "I am not in favor of payday loans, but I realize some use them for cash flow. I think it is healthy to talk about economics. We have a need for mechanics, electricians and nurses. We're meant to be impartial. Some people are exploitive. The focus should be on safety and economic development more than tax incentives. The hospital is county-owned, and it brings in talented people."

"For anyone who doesn't know," Cano said, "the Town Council doesn't get involved in what business comes in unless it requires an alcohol permit. I like that, because if we did have a say, people would accuse us of favoritism. I personally would rather eat at friends' restaurants than at chains. If the council were involved in getting businesses to come in, it would be like we're being bought. That's not a good way to treat people. Chains look at how many people will shop in the store or eat in the restaurant. When Denny's first came, it was hopping, now no one is there. And no, W & N Enterprises is not running the town. I don't even know the individuals."

Fisher said several efforts are looking to solve or ease the problem of the homeless. "Does the town have a role and, if so, what?"

Cano said it is a huge question for the town. "Yes, the town has a role-through policies. The homeless feel like they are not wanted. That is not cool. Anti-donation limits what we can do. We need to make sure law enforcement and the homeless are working together, instead of fearing one another. I think our councilors should be more willing to talk to people about, for instance, a tent city. We should make sure there are bridges of communication. We have a lot of transients. They need to know they are accepted and give them information about the Gospel Mission."

Prince said he absolutely believes government has a role in assisting the homeless population. "It's a direct thing how to help them as individuals. Last year, I helped out at night at the Gospel Mission. I'm not of the mind that if you don't have enough money, you don't deserve to live. No organization is as collective as government to take care of the homeless. I was homeless seven years ago when I came here. It's a hard thing to get established. Thankfully, I did not develop a hard-chemical issue. I am so excited about the Tu Casa project. I'm excited to see the homeless look out for one another. If one gets housing, he puts up more of his friends. I think the municipality has properties. Code enforcement, instead of dealing with weeds and barking dogs, should be slapping landlords for not allowing HUD. We criminalize the homeless across the country. I want law enforcement to have options, not just to put them in jail."

Seibel asked his traditional Time Machine question. "Imagine that you have won and in two years you are coming back seeking re-election. What is it that you have accomplished that you are most proud of. One thing."

Prince said he would like to have everybody who looks at one another look at each other as one body, with no anxiety. "Separateness is a call for help and people show up. Kids have what they need; teachers are paid well; and law enforcement feels safe and part of the community. I don't want to know how much anyone makes. I want it to come from our government having accomplished it through engagement."

"In two years, I want to find it amazing to be able to go to events and wander where there are brown people and locals," Cano said. "Tourists come after seeing a brochure and find the community matches the brochure. It will come from working with the Arts and Cultural District, so advertising is reflective of the community."

Prince gave the first closing statement. "I feel civic duty is important. I'm just making myself a leader. I will continue to be a leader in the community whether or not I receive the vote. I want to make sure we have conversations. I'm happy to serve and will be available to find out what role you want government to play."

Cano thanked the Daily Press. "I also want to thank Ben Fisher, because he sits through all our meetings. The past four years have been learning for me, and I have a few more things I would like to do. I hope the citizens of District 4 will allow me to do that by re-electing me. I feel like the district has improved and a few things need to be addressed. Your engagement makes it easier for me when making a decision. I really enjoy working with the legislators and other municipal officials throughout the state. I feel like I've been a good representative of Silver City. You can ask the 150 or so legislators, mayors of other municipalities, the Alumni board. I ask for your vote. Whether or not you vote for me, please go out and vote. Early voting is going on now through March 2 and Election Day is March 6."