Silver City council approves ICIP and Comprehensive Plan

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a regular meeting June 23, 2026. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith, Nicholas Prince, Stan Snider, Victor Nanez and Angela Salaiz.

The council approved the agenda with some changes. They moved public input to just before their executive session and adding a committee report from Prince on his recent training at the Municipal Legue policy committee.

Ceremonies

Although no ceremonies were  on the agenda, they did celebrate that this would be the last meeting for Alfred Sedillo, town clerk, because he would be retiring June 30, 2026. Wheaton-Smith presented him with a recognition of his service as town clerk and congratulated him for his next job as probate judge.

Council comments

Salaiz said she had a number of comments. She wished Sedillo a happy retirement and thanked him for all his help when she had first started on the council. She called him Alfred the batman, he knew everything and did everything. "So, you are a real superhero."

Salaiz had heard some alarming things concerning the museum. Some of the town members have had harassment for their stance on the museum. They have been called on their personal phone numbers and yelled at in the streets and parking lots calling them a museum hater. "I want to remind people this is not a good thing. We should not be doing this and need to be more mature." She added, "You are not helping the situation and making it worse." The budget of the museum she felt was concerning. She had made her opinion be known and has been told she would make things worse. Salaiz believes the current budget will not be sustainable and the money could be used elsewhere. They have town employees leaving to workplaces that pay better. She added that the city does have good benefits but that does not do any good when you have to live in a car because you can't pay rent. She worried about the taxpayers and how much they had to pay for gas, the price of groceries and then asking them to foot a $700,000 budget for the museum. "That is a lot of money, and I have cautioned the council and mayor at how serious this is."

Nanez did not have any comment but later said he wanted to thank Sedillo for all he had done and commented that when Sedillo had gone on vacation they all had run around not knowing what to do.

Snider thanked Sedillo for his years of service as the town clerk. At times he had been confused on the some of the processes, but Sedillo had always helped him.

Prince said he had been fortunate to spend time at the New Mexico Municipal League in Albuquerque. He had completed his level two training and thanked Sedillo for making his trip effortless. Although the training seems to be the same every year, they always have new state law to learn. He said this year would be a banner year for the state investing in the communities 'water supplies. He added he felt like he could see light at the end of the tunnel.

Wheaton-Smith said someone had been very helpful pruning trees at the cemetery and thanked them. He also asked that they contact the maintenance department so they could come pick up the debris. Although the lodgers tax committee was not on the agenda, he mentioned they have been looking into a lot of issues and having constructive discussions with Sunny 505 that does marketing for the town tourism.

He had attended the mural dedication for the Friends of the Chiricahua Apache Nation. He thanked Diana Ingalls Leyba, director for mural projects and Blake Farley. The mural had been done on the wall of Farley's building.

Starting in July the first meeting of each month, they will have a financial report.

Wheaton-Smith said he receives a lot of calls and emails with complaints, and he welcomed them but suggested they start first with their council member of their district who  knows their area better.

He thanked Sedillo for all his work and he had been very helpful.

The council approved the minutes for June 9, 2026

Reports

Managers report

Jacqui Olea, interim town manager, thanked Sedillo for all his hard work through community development and now as town clerk. "I really do appreciate you being the smiling face and the voice of the town." The first stop people make he has been there to make them feel welcome. she said.  Olea also  echoed Salaiz's comments pertaining to the employees at the museum. The employees have not been involved in any of the current situations. Wheaton-Smith commented that the employees of the museum have been under a lot of stress.

Police chief report

Lieutenant Manuel Jaure congratulated Sedillo and said, "He is an amazing man, great smile and always pleasant to see." He had the May 2026 report for the council. They had 49 calls in the downtown area, 15 full patrols, 8 Big Ditch patrols, 9 citizen contacts, 12 traffic stops, 18 citations and 8 arrests.

They had 38 calls for service that ranged from alarms, harassment, property damage, domestic violence, one shooting, suspicious activity, agency assist, reckless driving, complaints, unwanted subjects, citizen assist, code enforcement, medical and welfare checks. It also included one vehicle crash and zero noise complaints.

Prince said every time he goes downtown, he sees officers on patrol and said, "It's fantastic." Wheaton-Smith echoed his thanks.

Committee reports

Cemetery board

Wheaton-Smith had attended the meeting and said, "I am glad they are back in business." He added to the previous thank you to the people that had pruned the trees. They had done a very good and professional job at trimming the trees. He reminded them to feel free to call public works so they can remove the cut branches. Toss No Mas had also worked at cleaning up the cemetery and he had helped with that clean up.

Museum advisory board.

A member had come to the council meeting and said they had not met.

Reuse and Recycle committee

Snider said they had been meeting regularly and had elected officers and by laws. He had handed the bylaws to the council to review. The town needs to reduce the amount of material deposited in the landfill. Their mission will be to collaborate with the town staff and community members to develop recommendations to obtain that goal. The committee will be comparing what other communities have been doing for recycling and resources needed. The next meeting will be July 10, 2026, at the Little Toad Creek and they meet every second Friday of the month. The committee has one open position left.

Prince had added this report to the agenda. He would be speaking to his recent training at the municipal league. He had 4,000 words of notes but would be addressing the latest developments for policy recommendations. The tax and revenue department's  fee for money distribution will be decreasing what they take out of the gross receipts tax starting with one percent decrease every year. Prince said that might not sound like much but would increase the budget to $170,000 each year. The law enforcement protection fund will be increasing, as well as the fire protection fund and EMS fund.

Prince continued to address other items such as derelict properties, asset forfeiture, copper stripping (people stealing coper out of light fixtures), domestic violence tracking, changes in police and firefighter workmen's compensation and negligent driving. He went over all of these and more items in detail.

The state will be looking at the laws that prevent the fire department from outlawing all fireworks when the area has very dry conditions. Wheaton-Smith said the fire department will come and look at a resident's property and offer suggestions.

New business

The council approved resolution no. 2026-19 approving the 2026 town of Silver City Comprehensive Plan. Susan Mittelstadt, community development director, thanked everyone who had brought them to this point. She had health difficulties, and the staff and others had stepped up to keep the process moving. She had a power point presentation for the council and audience to view. This plan will be a statutory requirement for a lot of funding requests. It had been broken into key areas, land use, zoning, housing, transportation, circulation, economic development, public facilities, natural resources and hazard mitigation.

They looked at assessing existing conditions and then worked with the community to what they wanted to see in the future. Community engagement had been done, and Planning and Zoning had opened their agenda to allow for people to bring their concerns. Later they had a joint meeting with Planning and Zoning which the public had been invited to attend. Mittlestadt went over the other community engagement events they had including tables at different community events. Prince, Snider and Wheaton-Smith thanked her for the hard work.

The council approved resolution no. 2026-20 adopting the 2028-2032 ICIP (infrastructure capital improvement plan) for the town. Olea went over the top five items listed. The number one on the list will be the wastewater treatment plant improvements. They will be looking for funding to design the inside to update some of the lab and just look at overall needs. The next will be Silver City sidewalks, curb and gutter improvements, specifically downtown because of the high curbs. The next one on the list will be the Silver City Gough Park improvements. The fifth will be Little Walnut. The state looks at the top five but other items on the list include police vehicles, Vista de Plata improvements, 12th Street road improvements, College Street, Pope Street and Bullard Street intersection improvements and historic waterworks rehabilitation project. Other items on the list also included Sheriff's Posse road improvements, public safety complex, Big Ditch Park, library, Memory Lane, city vehicles, etc. Olea wanted the public to know this would not guarantee funds and will only be a planning document and presented to the state legislature.

Snider said, "I am pleased to see we are looking at the 50-year-old wastewater treatment plant.

The council approved resolution no. 2026-21 adopting the 2028-2032 ICIP for the senior center. Olea said the state required a separate plan for the senior center. Their priority on the list will be kitchen equipment followed by improvements to the senior center, vehicles, backup generator and solar panel installation. The senior center will still be a capital asset of the town but starting  inJuly, Santa Clara will be operating the facility.

The council approved the recommendation of Wheaton-Smith to reappoint Mary Jemin to the Municipal Library Community Advisory Group.

Public input.

Glenn Theron said he moved here in 1994 after retiring from 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He had come to speak about an event that happened May 15, 2026, and read from the New Mexico traffic manual. He said it states that a motor vehicle must do everything they can to prevent striking a pedestrian or other vehicle regardless of the circumstances even if the other has not obeyed the traffic laws. He continued to read out of the manual. He had been on a bicycle and was struck by a car and went through a full explanation of the incident. He said the police report had been wrong with the description of events. The end result being his fault by 80 percent and the driver of the vehicle 20 percent. At this point his five minutes had passed and he continued to speak to the event.

Linda Rakestraw thanked all that had attended in this crisis time. "There is a lot of scary stuff going on." She went on to say that the survivability of everyone depended on the removal of carbon emissions. "From resource extraction, overconsumption, economic system delusions of infinite earthly abundance and growth in the material world. When this shit hit the fan around 2017, when science told us, and still is telling us, became public knowledge about the irreversible and accelerating worldwide damage to vital environmental systems and functioning and maintaining natural life. It's been piling up. We're in extremely deep doo-doo, requiring massive collective cooperation and efforts to raise awareness and spiritual growth to stop the oil, to give our children a livable future on an inhabitable planet in a democratic society. Blaming and criminalizing innocent people escapes our responsibility." She continued that the bad guys come from the fossil fuel industry. They had been happy to see the mayor come to their public protest at Watts Hall. She continued speaking to the demise of the world until her time had been used.

Elizabeth Lopez came to speak about a problem with a neighbor in the Serena Court and Sarah Court area. This neighbor has continued to live in a camper trailer on his property. He regularly harasses everyone, complains about kids playing and complains about the dogs barking. She said she had filed a complaint with the police department. Some other neighbors had come with her in support. This person had made it uncomfortable and hard for the neighborhood. She questioned him being able to continue to live in a camper trailer in a residential neighborhood.

Barbara Totherow felt the town had a lot to be proud of. She works at the museum and had been concerned by the comments of Salaiz concerning the budget for the museum. She worried about the way things had been going towards the museum. "I hope you don't throw the baby out with the bath water. The museum is amazing." She had received many compliments from visitors about the museum when working.

Willam Woodward had come to speak to the council several times. He said in a few days it would be the 81st anniversary of Franks well field and still have been paid the same amount as in 1945. His family well field will be at their 60th anniversary and still being paid the same as in 1967. Inflation had increased drastically in those years. They had been fair contracts in their time because they knew the wells would eventually be depleted and left high and dry. The more the city pumps the less they pay, then they turn it around and sell it to residents for much higher. The more the resident uses the more they pay. "You know you are giving capitalism a bad look." He said they refused to negotiate the contracts. His father had tried for years talking to lawyers, town managers and politicians, it broke them, and they gave up. He said he would not give up and would continue to hammer the issue even though he may not accomplish anything.

The council went into executive session to discuss pending or threatened litigation.

The council came back into open session and said they had only discussed pending or threatened litigation and no decisions had been made.

The council disapproved of postponing further discussions between the town and Museum Society ,pending a full review of multiple recently raised questions, comments and concerns.

Meeting adjourned