By Lynn Janes
The Silver City Town Council held a work session May 23, 2023. The meeting started with Mayor Ken Ladner calling the meeting to order and leading the Pledge of Allegiance and salute to the New Mexico state flag. Council members attending the meeting included Jose Ray, Nicholas Prince, Guadalupe Cano, and Rudy Bencomo.
The council approved the agenda.
The council approved the minutes from the work session held April 25, 2023.
This month's work session continued the discussion about the committee to put together a job description for the new town manager when Alex Brown, town manager retires.
Cano thought 12 – 15 people would be sufficient and a good number.
Prince had not given the council names before for his submission, so he gave them the names he had. Alicia Montoya, young and has been involved in political campaignes. Mattie Eagle, CPA, and experienced in project management. Dr. Barbara Mora and Dr. Twana Sparks. He said he would get with them on the fifth name later. He had not talked to some of them about it.
Bencomo recommended Priscilla Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments director. He said she had a lot of experience with job descriptions. Silver Schools Superintendent William Hawkins, and retired Police Chief and Municipal jJudge Rudy Jacquez; Flight Paramedic Mike Starr, and now clinical director; State Farm insurance agent John Saari, who owns two businesses. Saari is very interested but needs approval from the insurance company.
Cano said they needed to pick people from their district also. Hers would be Jack Howell. Ray said all his picks had been in his district but if he only had one it would be Wendy Phillips. Prince said Lynda Smith.
Prince said Microsoft teams should be used and it would simplify the process and they could have more on the committee. Cano questioned if he meant to use all five that each of them had put forward to the council making it 25 members. Prince said with the platform it could be done.
The council decided they would all firm up their list for the next work session and take action.
Ladner said they had a good cross section of the community.
Cano commented that 25 people would be a lot but with email it could be done. Ladner said some names on the list they had all talked about may not want to take part in the committee. Ray said he thought 3 from each of them would be a better number.
Ladner had asked Brown to talk about the selection committee. Brown said they could have up to 5 on the interview committee. He had seen other small communities have the council do the job description and a committee did the interviews. The larger communities brought in outside firms that have knowledge of town governments and what would be needed. It would be more professional, but they don't know the town. He had been involved in the hiring of the Silver Schools superintendent before William Hawkins. They used a firm specifically with knowledge of the school systems. They had helped the board and interview committee. He explained the process and help they had given with that process.
Brown said maybe if they could find a firm that specialized in town managers it would be helpful. The council had comments both ways for the idea. Ladner said they just needed to make sure they make it all transparent.
Prince asked Brown about the upcoming budget as he didn't have it in the packet they received. Brown said he had held it up because of the need to get the insurance quote before he could move forward. He said he would know by the next week.
Adjourned
Silver City held a regular meeting May 23, 2023. The meeting started with Mayor Ken Ladner calling the meeting to order and leading the Pledge of Allegiance and salute to the New Mexico state flag. Council members attending the meeting included Jose Ray, Nicholas Prince, Guadalupe Cano, and Rudy Bencomo.
The council approved the agenda.
Ceremonies none currently.
Proclamations none currently.
Council comments
Bencomo said he had attended the National Day of Prayer in the park, and it had been very well attended. He had gone to the town hall discussion about the homeless but would let Cano give that update because she had spearheaded it. He had participated in the Toss No Mas and said, "We went into the Big Ditch, and it was pretty clean except for the homeless camp." He thanked code enforcement for the follow up on a complaint of a vehicle. He asked who he needed to report a problem to concerning a house on 23rd and Juniper Street. He had a good meeting with Richard Rodriguez concerning the cemetery.
He asked Police Chief Portillo about an article he had seen concerning the Department of Transportation doing a study on Silver Heights and Hudson Street. He wanted to know if it had been done and the outcome. Portillo said they have known they had a problem in that area and the town had a requested a traffic study. They went out and looked at it the past month and looked at different times of day. They looked at the whole corridor and pedestrians, traffic, bicycles, etc. to make a report but it has not been completed. Brown said it should be done by August. State has started a process so a community can request a safety study and get started on high priority projects. The Walmart and Bypass changes had been done in response to a safety study. That took three years. Brown said they also have requested a safety study at Highway 90, Cooper Street and Ridge Road. The town has asked for a stop light twice for that area.
Bencomo wanted to thank Alfred Sedillo, town clerk for helping him get everything he needed as a councilman.
Cano attended the Armed Services Day at Bataan Memorial and thanked everyone involved in bringing the band from Fort Bliss. She attended an event that the library had done at the park. She encouraged people to attend the ongoing events they will be having. The museum has continued to have community conversations. They highlight the history of the area. Javier Marrufo has done great research on the community and has done a great job. Silver City Main Street has a program called Bad Ass Entrepreneurs. They tell stories about their businesses. She said it would be well worth attending.
The town hall for the homeless had been well attended and a good meeting. People had many ideas. A task force will be started. If anyone is interested, they can email Patricia Cano at gctaskforce@gmail.com or call 575-590-3016. Cano wanted to especially thank County Commission Chair Chris Ponce, Silver School Board Member and County Treasurer Patrick Cohn, and the Silver City Town Council. "I was so happy to see the whole council there, it is important to the community you were there, and I appreciate the time you took to be there." She also expressed thanks to County Commissioners Billy Billings and Harry Browne, Silver Schools superintendent William Hawkins, District Attorney Office Representative Tim Aldrich, Assistant Town Manager James Marshall, code enforcement personnel, and Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce Director Romeo Cruz. Something had come out in the meeting several times that the city and county didn't care. "That is not true, many are trying to help and do something." Ponce has been trying to find some solutions and will be on board with the task force. Town Manager Brown has been working hard to find some solutions that will help the community.
Ray said school will now be out and to please be careful and watch out for the kids. He thanked code enforcement for doing a good job and he knew that sometimes it can be hard, and people will be rude. A resident had asked him to thank Brown for the work he had done at Scott Park for the handicapped.
Ray attended one of the Mayor's Monday morning meetings for the public. A lot of people expressed being mad about the homeless problems. He said he also had talked to some of the downtown business owners mad about having to have cameras because of the homeless and them urinating on the streets and starting fires. "Hang in there with us we are trying to get a task force together."
Ray said he recently went to Deming and Las Cruces; the gas prices had been 75 cents cheaper than in Silver. "We are asked to support our local businesses, but they need to support us."
Prince welcomed Bencomo and thanked him for stepping up. He thanked the council for all being at the town hall for the homeless. A lot of issues came up that have not been part of the conversation but have been a problem in the community. "I want to remind people while we are having these conversations about people suffering that creating barriers is not the answer."
Prince said he had gone to the last school board meeting and had been deeply concerned, because it seemed armed school guards will be an inevitability. "We have no evidence this will make our schools safe. On the contrary it will make the schools a target. Suicide by law enforcement is a thing." Having armed security guards will not help.
Prince suggested a safety study for highway 180 and Alabama Street.
Ladner thanked everyone who volunteers. He listed out some of the things that had been done. Toss No Mas picked up 14,000 pounds of trash in the past two years. It helps with community pride.
The council approved the minutes from the May 9, 2023, meeting.
Public input
Patricia Cano addressed the council and said she resides in the town and had a great deal of experience with job descriptions and served on search committees. At the work session she had heard Prince say they should use Zoom. "I sincerely hope you do not do that." People will not be as forthcoming and it keeps people from speaking up. It will also be important to have someone chair the group and to organize.
Frank DeAngelis wanted to let the council know about an incident that had happened to him. He lives at Corbin Street and Broadway Street. They had only been gone for a few hours and three intoxicated individuals had broken into his house and started moving in. They moved furniture and started bringing in their belongings. His daughter had come to the home to feed the cats and found them. They told her it was their house, and she had called 911 and the officers responded quickly. He said his house in no way appears vacant. It's clean and newly painted. The individuals had left, and they left a mess. He said his neighborhood had been shocked about the incident. In closing, "I want to make our community safe and hospitable even to the homeless."
Reports
Ladner asked Michael Renteria, 6th judicial district attorney, to give a report on what his office has been doing. Renteria had given information to the council on the legislative bills he had followed.
Renteria thanked them for the opportunity. He said he had wanted to attend the town hall to discuss the homeless but had to be in Santa Fe, so Aldrich attended in his place. This is something that affects everyone and must be a priority.
They had tracked over 100 bills in the legislature. "We can't lobby but influence where we can." Currently the office is only short one attorney which has been a problem in each district.
Fentanyl has become a huge problem and one pill can kill. They seem to target the children. Since 2013 the state has had a 3,000 percent increase in child fentanyl deaths. "We have started with educating in the schools. The legislature had a bill that would make selling fentanyl a more serious penalty and it didn't pass but the district attorney office will go for it again next year. I take a firm stand on drug offenses." On the other hand, they can't jail everyone and many need treatment and have mental health issues. Renteria said they now have treatment courts. "I want to have that and mental health courts and domestic abuse courts. We need to find creative ways to do this." It does take funding and programs to accomplish it.
He talked about the firearm bill for securing weapons in a safe place. "I am in favor of this because we as firearm owners have an obligation to secure our weapons." He had been happy it passed.
The juvenile payroll board had been a sticky issue between all the district attorneys. It had almost passed but didn't give enough thought to the victims. He went over the bill and explained the main points.
Renteria said the child protection act had been a no brainer. This provided that if a child that had been a victim would only have to testify once. They should not have to be traumatized over and over. It didn't pass.
The catch and release has been a problem. Judges let them out but at the same time their hands are tied. Renteria said they could use discretion and this practice causes victims to lose their rights.
He talked about the problem of the cannabis packaging that makes it look like candy and appealing to kids. They tried to get a bill passed requiring opaque packaging, plain white. They had doctors and school administrators come talk about the kids that had consumed these and been found passed out from it. Common sense didn't rule.
Allowing blood draws from people in car accidents to find out if they had consumed cannabis didn't pass.
He went over several others. The council had some questions and they thanked him for his presentation and Ray asked him to come back.
Public hearings none currently.
Unfinished business none currently.
New business
The council approved resolution 2023-09. This had to do with the audit done by Stone and McGee. It had been a good audit with no findings but had been turned in late. Mike Stone apologized for it being turned in late and said it was their fault.
Brown did a short budget review. As he had said in the work session, he didn't have all the numbers so it would not be appropriate to give it to them now. The holdup has been obtaining liability insurance. In the past it had been $200,000 to $300,000 but now it will be costing them more than $1 million.
The council approved resolution 2023-10. This would increase the water rates by 4 percent. Brown said in part the increase was due to inflation but also because of the decreased use of water last year because of a good rainy season.
The council approved resolution 2023-11. This would stop the service of the green recycle containers. Brown explained this would allow the town not to increase trash collection rates. The green containers will be discontinued after August 1, 2023.
The council approved the master operating agreement with Community Access Television Silver City (CATS) and the town of Silver City.
The council approved the recommendation of the mayor to appoint the following people to the Trails and Open Space Advisory Committee. They included Harry Browne, Robert Schiowitz, Martha Egnal, Marsha Sue Lustig, Susannah Heyer Barsom and Bruce McKinney.
Meeting adjourned.