.Silver City council learned about turkey vultures roost in town

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a regular meeting May 26, 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 the addition of the library advisory committee under committee reports. It will also include the addition of an executive session as the last item on the agenda.

Proclamations

The town of Silver City recognized the town's new poet laureate Christine Nealson with a proclamation. She will be the town;s poet laureate for 2026-2028. Nealson said, "Silver City is a moveable feast of the arts." Poetry breaks down barriers between different art groups, integrating them more into different populations of the community as well. She defined community as not just human, but also non-human with all the natural and wild elements here. "I'm really thrilled. You're going to see me out there a lot. You're probably going to get tired of seeing me out there because I've got some great ideas." She wanted to read a short poem and provided some context to it. The community has a large turkey vulture roost by the Mobile station and R and L Service Center. She said it has been quite a sight to see them leave in the morning and come back in the evening.

"Our roosters are vultures.
They fly with such ease.
Big bodies, small limbs, they land where they please.
Wingspans of six feet cast shadows across hills.
A silent approach begs of reverence and thrills.
They arrive as the sun sinks slow in the west.
Our slow gallant gliders, they come home to rest.
An honor it is that they grace our skies.
They caress our souls, and they open our eyes."

She added that Native Americans refer to turkey vultures as peace eagles because they are the only bird that does not kill.

Council comments

Salaiz started by thanking everyone who had helped make the Blues Fest a success that included the volunteers, town employees and law enforcement. She had attended the first museum committee meeting a few weeks earlier and had been very disheartened and upset. So much hostility, in particular from one member and not just the society but citizens speaking. She didn't see how this will work with this hostility and very unprofessional behavior. It had been very poor behavior.

Snider wanted to make people aware they need to watch their packages because of theft. He had a package delivered and it had been stolen within an hour, and he had to file a police report. Filing the report had been a very simple process and the officer had done their job well and very professionally.

Nanez reiterated the thank you on the Blues Fest. He thanked everyone involved.

Prince had three comments. He wanted to make everyone was aware of events coming up. A meeting to do the ICIP (infrastructure capital improvements plan) would be taking place May 27, 2026. The list of request comes to $180 million and would be prioritizing projects. A closing ceremony for Jose Barrios Elementary School would be taking place. The American Legion would be having a pancake breakfast. He added that a public seminar would be held regarding the new rules for childcare facilities and qualification for funding under the new state's childcare universal funding.

Wheaton-Smith said they still have some vacancies on the boards and committees. The cemetery has one and historic design has one for an architect. He had realized that the previous week had been National Police Week, and they had not done anything and should have. He thanked the department for what they do every day and night. He added he knew budgets had been tight and mentioned Las Cruces had cut thirty positions due to budget.

Wheaton- Smith said he had done calculations and by the end of the year they would have the ability to give out awards again to things such as Tour of the Gila, Blues Festival and a few others.

Every third Wednesday of the month ,Wheaton-Smith would be doing coffee with the mayor between 1:00 – 3:00 pm and for the time being it will be at the new recreation center. The next one will be June 17, 2026

The council approved the minutes for May 12, 2026

Public input.

Victoria Reese had come to speak on this issue at a previous meeting. The issue being Bart Roselli and the museum. She had provided facts to the council she said still stood. "The public is wondering what is going on. It seems once again a man in power is able to abuse women with nothing happening." The concern has been to protect his rights but not the victims. He currently has been placed on administrative paid leave, being paid to stay home. "What about the women he fired wrongfully? Are they being paid?" No one had even reached out to them. She went over his banning the museum society from seeing the financials, the missing historical valuable items and his wife starting a 501c3 to raise money for the museum. "The 501c3 will be nothing but a slush fund where he has control once again." She felt the museum needed a forensic audit. She also felt the town has been opening themselves up to more lawsuits. Reese spoke to the lies Roselli had spread about Raul Turrieta and Patsy Madrid.

Gail Avignone said she was glad she came and had wanted to talk about this for two years and Roselli is her husband. She said she has had cancer for the last two years and had been in extreme pain but pointed out two kinds of pain. She had the physical pain of cancer and the other what has been happening in the town. She started interacting with the audience and Wheaton-Smith reminded her this would be public input. She addressed the rumor of Turrieta stealing money and said he had not stolen it but had been sitting on it and not providing it to the museum. She said one of the people in the museum society likes to stir up hatred, sand he has power and money. She reminisced about how she and Roselli met and had been happy to come to this town. "I believe there are evil forces at work here." Wendy Spurgeon had sent the exact same complaints to the Department of Labor, and it had been dismissed because of no merit. Still, she brought the same things forward at a past meeting. Avignone said she didn't understand why this had been happening. She knew the town had good people but had stayed up nights crying and has had to see a therapist because she can't believe this has been allowed to fester for two years.

Avignone addressed the other person that said she had been fired and went over that situation. She said she had been hired but Roselli had no knowledge of it and when he called the town manager and human resources, they did not have any knowledge of her being hired. This had been referencing Nicole Eleck. This brought out some interaction with people in the audience and Eleck.

Eric Speirs, union president for the town of Silver City, would be speaking on behalf of the union and its members. They had all heard the concerns over no money in the budget, which he said might be true but asked them to look beyond the numbers and consider what they represent, people. The city workers keep everything running. When talking about their wages, it will not be about expenses but investments in the people that make the city work. When workers have low pay, turnover increases and the cost of hiring and training new employees costs money. When positions remain unfilled, services slow down and he continued with more outcomes on not providing wage increases.

George Carr, a member of the museum society, had come to put forth his opinion. This would not have anything to do with the society's opinion and would be only his. Two things which he thought require significant emphasis. The first, the public wants a resolution of the dispute between the town and the museum society resolved promptly. The society wishes to restore its 40-year relationship with the museum in providing financial support and volunteers. At the meeting of the advisory board, former volunteers stated their unequivocal desire to resume fundraising and volunteer activities. On May 12th, Dr. Richard Johnson told you that the society had submitted a proposed memorandum of understanding with a view toward resolving this impasse. This memorandum of understanding had been submitted at the request of the town. It has been five weeks of no response from this proposal.

Carr continued, "Citizens faced with this sort of institutional intransigence have no recourse other than to lawyer up and go to court. If this is what the town wants, it is up to you to explain why the town is unwilling to explain why it is unwilling to resolve the dispute in a reasonable business-like manner." The second item deserving of emphasis, Wheaton-Smith professed desire to be fair to everyone at a meeting of the museum advisory group. He added justice delayed would be justice denied. The delay enables a continuation of disinformation. Carr said Roselli had filed a complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General's office in September of 2025, claiming the society had been guilty of multiple financial irregularities and fraud. The attorney general had engaged a certified fraud examiner and closed the complaint in November 2025. Despite this Roselli continues to make baseless accusations against the society and president Turrieta. The town continuing to undertake any proactive measures to end this will result in very significant and totally unwarranted cost for the town and ultimately the constituents.

Billie Turrieta had come to speak on her husband's behalf. He is employed as chief deputy in the assessor's office where he had worked for 45 years. Because of his ethics and involvement in the community, he had  been asked to run for state representative. She went over  what had started the situation. All she wanted would be for Roselli to say he lied about her husband taking anything from the museum. "My husband would never do anything like that."

Eleck said, "I am still not getting paid, and I am still unemployed, thanks to Bart Rosellie for chasing me around the museum." This started the disorder with the audience again and Avignone. Eleck continued to deny what Avignone had said earlier about her employment. "I do have rights and getting abused by people in control like Roselli is not part of what I should be having to deal with." She added that what all of them had done to her had been appalling, and she admonished them for it.

Candice Breen Lee said although she no longer resides in town but now in the county, she had something she wanted the council to be aware of. It would be about the turkey vultures that roost by the Mobile gas station and R and L gas station. The best place to view them leaving in the morning and coming back in the evening was the porch of the Grant County Administrative building. They arrive in the spring and this year they came March 25, 2026. Two years ago, she had walked down to the trees they roost on, and one had been cut down and she called the mayor at the time, Ken Ladner and asked how they could let that happen. He didn't know about it but called her back later and said PNM had cut it down because of a branch that fell on the power line. Now the trees are being threatened by dirt being piled up against healthy trees and added it also is a riparian area. She wanted to know who allowed this to happen. She understands it will be a truck stop, and they will have a lot of lighting that might affect the birds.

Roger Tree spoke as a citizen of the town and not as vice president of the museum society. He knew Avignone a little bit and had been sorry to hear about her health issues and respected her need to stand up for Roselli. It did not change the facts. He wanted to know if Roselli had been adequately vetted when hired. He knew he had been fired previously for mismanagement in New York. Avignone broke in again interrupting what Tree had said. Tree continued that he had seen Roselli abuse women and had gone to speak at length with Ladner because of his shock at witnessing it. In all his professional years of working he had never seen a man treat a woman like that. He had just frozen and not stood up as he should have. "I am letting this off my conscience." Tree added he felt more women would be coming forward on this issue.

Raul Turreta recognized the person that spoke to the turkey vultures and said he had been able to touch and hold them and what peaceful birds they had been. He wished people would be that way. He thanked his wife for speaking and went over being born and raised in the area. He remembered it had been his wife that encouraged him to join the museum society and he had enjoyed being there and all the events they did to fundraise. He said he had done everything he could to enhance the museum. "I love the museum. It's my town." Everyone had asked him to be the museum society president but when he first started asking questions, he had encountered resistance and kickback. "We did not walk away from the museum. We got kicked out of the museum," referring to everyone on the museum society. "I have never taken a dime in 45 years in my office, and I never even adjusted a value that was not right."

Avignone asked to speak again, and Wheaton-Smith declined her request. She continued to want to have a discussion and Wheaton-Smith reminder her that it is public input and not a discussion or debate.

Reports

Manager's report

Jacqui Olea, interim town manager, wanted to echo the comments about the Blues Festival and thanked the employees for the work over the weekend. She also thanked some volunteers that painted the handrails downtown and a group that had been pruning trees in public spaces.

Olea said they had been looking into funding sources for the wastewater treatment plant to upgrade the equipment. They have looked at starting a master plan for Gough Park. The town had received legislative funding for planning and design, and they will be working with someone familiar with the area. They will look at the things that will impact the park and will be holding public meetings in the planning process.

Police report

Officer Vicki Toney provided the report, because Lt. Manuel Jaure had gone out in the lobby because of possible problems stemming from public input. Toney said for the month of April, the downtown activity report had 75 patrols, 9 foot patrols, 6 Big Ditch foot patrols, 5 citizen contacts, 9 traffic stops, 2 traffic citations and 1 arrest. She continued with a list of all other activity for the month. Jaure returned at that point.

Committee reports

Prince read the minutes from the museum advisory board meeting. The museum advisory group made sure all were committed towards the mission, making themselves knowledgeable on matters generally affecting public museums and would be available to respond to the museum director with information, analysis, insights, and general recommendations designed for the benefit of the municipal museum and its community. The museum advisory group has five members and will be meeting quarterly. He went over who served on the committee and what position they held. The meeting included some of the upcoming events the museum would be having and programs.

Susan Moody, chair, had a report for planning and zoning. They have a total of five members. The commission had approved an increase in city licensing fees that will be similar to other jurisdictions. Currently the commission has been working on an ordinance for vacant and dangerous buildings and will be presenting a draft to the council in July. They have also worked on an ordinance to protect homeowners in manufactured home parks.

Prince said that housing and vacant building downtown would be an absolute priority and thanked them for what they have been doing. Wheaton-Smith hoped to see some updates on the land use and zoning codes towards the end of the year.

Prince provide a report for the economic development and research committee. They had a meeting recently to set the rules and listed the members. The committee adopted state standards involving the Open Meetings Act, Government Conduct Act, Anti-Donation Clause, and Inspection of Public Records Act by universal acclimation for all four. "As we're going to be handling economic matters, I wanted to make sure everybody on the committee knew what the rules were because as soon as you start talking about money and politics, people start getting a little hairy." They had looked at the three pieces of public economic data provided by the state. These break down all the sales. He continued to go over some of this information and meaning for quite a while.

Prince provided a report on the library advisory board. He went over the members and students from the youth library had attended. Digital services have been utilized more than physical services. They will be looking for increased use by students in the summer months and will also have programs for them. The library has new vinyl carpet and furniture providing a lounge area. The large conference room had been redone, and the library foundation had funded all the work.

Wheaton-Smith said he might regret wanting committee reports on the agenda.

New business

The council approved resolution 2026-18 to form a reuse-and-recycle committee for the town. Snider explained they had rescinded the old resolution because it only allowed for five members. They had many people interested so they wanted to increase it to seven members and will allow for out-of-town limits members. Snider said in reality this has not been just a city problem but a community problem.

The council approved the appointment of Corina Lambert for the reuse -nd-recycle committee.

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.

Meeting adjourned