Photo and article by Lynn Janes

On December 5, 2023, Silver City Mayor pro tem Guadalupe Cano and Grant County Commission Chair Chris Ponce hosted a town hall at the Grant County Veterans and Business Conference Center to do a follow up on the presentation done by Farmington the month before outlining what they had done do address the homeless, substance abuse and mental health problem in their community. See previous article, https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81340-farmington-shares-their-community-solutions.

Many of the officials from the municipalities and county attended to answer questions and concerns. They also had law enforcement, and Michael Renteria, district attorney in attendance. Each attendee had three minutes to ask their question or comment and the panel of officials had two minutes to respond.

Dan Otero, DBA, chief executive officer Hidalgo Medical Services (HMS), gave an update on Tu Casa, the substance abuse and crisis facility. He had joined HMS in 2016 and at that time had come together with the county to start Tu Casa. They had problems at the time with the lack of state rules and regulations. They continued with the plans for the facility and the rules had been done and they began the process of building. In 2019 they had their first temporary license and had the needed staff. The covid pandemic started and they only had about three clients every 24 hours and financially had to close. They have worked with the state since to determine what would be needed to run the facility. They needed new regulations that would support a rural area and the state amended the code to accommodate them. Recently they released the new code and Tu Casa will do a cost analysis and the state will honor the reimbursement needed. "It has been a difficult couple of years to make it work."

Resident James Harris thanked all the officials on the panel and people responsible for bringing in the people from Farmington to do the presentation. "The issue with homeless and mental health is a pandemic in itself. I am a high functioning autistic person that has been fortunate, and I understand the issues more than anyone else." He commented how blessed he had been to have good parents and friends that gave him the help he needed. "Not everyone has that." The red tape needs to be eliminated to get them the help they need. They need a stern firm structure. These facilities enable these problems. They have SSI and get $90 a week. He asked what they would be doing with that money. It will be spent on the drugs and that hurts the mental health issues, he said. The facilities do not need to be in residential areas. He asked all first responders their thoughts on what he had said.

Sheriff Raul Villanueva said as first responders they needed to all work together and take this seriously and it needs to be addressed. "The county is moving in the right direction."

Eloy Medina, Bayard city council, Grant County commissioner, and an Gila Regional Medical Center EMS director, said: "We are seeing the impact of drugs on the mental health crisis and alcohol as well." It makes it difficult to make an assessment on the patient. Many times, they must be sent out of town for the required services needed. Many times, it will be the same people over and over again. For EMS it has been hard to make a determination on the scene and the do not want to come with the EMS team and law enforcement must be brought in. Medina agreed with Harris they need a strongly structured resolution to the problem.

A resident of the SPIN facilty said: The biggest problem she sees is the lack of transparency and accountability from the SPIN shelter. Her mother (85 yrs. old) lives in the area of the SPIN facility and has to live in her house like a prisoner. "In the Farmington presentation they said it took ten years to get where they are at, we don't have ten years." She said she had compassion for the homeless and had not been against them. She is against the drugs. They come out at night on drugs, go to her mother's house walk around the yard and look in the windows. "My mother is terrified and so are the neighbors." They need to be moved from the residential area. They have little kids and don't know who is going in the facility and if some could be pedophiles. She thanked the city and sheriff for the patrols, and they helped keep them at bay. She asked the fire chief if they did any surprise inspections at 2:00 am to see how many people the facility had. She felt they had more people than allowed. She felt bad for the police officers and EMT because they have had to be there 24/7 because of many violent crimes. Not only the SPIN facility but all over town. "I do not see where the District Attorney has been backing up the police. You need to back up our police."

Fire Chief Milo Lambert said they do an annual formal inspection every year of the SPIN facility. The receive 10-15 calls a week for that facility. He said all his firefighters have been trained on inspection techniques and when they respond to calls, they also will be monitoring the facility. This makes it a regular occurrence.

Michael Renteria, Sixth Judicial District attorney, shared recently he had visited the SPIN facility to observe and inspect but didn't go in. "I know a lot of push back happened when the facility went in. I want to talk to some of the neighbors and familiarize myself. I get the frustration. I took an oath to uphold the laws." He said the low-level petty misdemeanors don't reach his office. "Some of the misdemeanors by law I am mandated to handle are DWI and domestic violence."

Cari Lemon of Community Partnership for Children said she had come to plant a seed. Many of the mothers with young children she deals with have many concerns about park safety.

Aretha Adelson said she had been to some of these conversations and knows much of it has gone towards putting out the fires right now. Her question, "What is being done about prevention?—Keeping things from happening to future generations?"

Otero said speaking from the National Association of Community Health Centers perspective. They have been working with Congress to move the health care system from a sick care system to a wellness system. This will mean a transition to proactive health. He said a lot of funds will be directed in that way. Locally he said they had a lot of services to get ahead of problems.

Yevette Thomas said she had a daughter that has been in and out of the system, in and out of the mental facilities and jail. The problem she has seen has been the catch and release, mentally unstable and they let them out. She commented she has been afraid of her own child at times. Something needs to be done about catch and release.

Renteria said the catch-and-release has been very frustrating for all the district attorneys. "We need help from you to help get the laws changed. We always try and get the laws changed at the legislature and it gets dumped out and does not even make it past committee."

State Representative, Luis Terrazas thanked everyone who had put the town hall together and said they needed the voice of the people. "In the legislature I have tried to support the changes on catch-and-release laws, but it always gets stopped." The residents need to put the pressure on. Because of this breakdown the communities have been having issues. He recounted that recently his family had been a victim of this breakdown. "We have to have a place to hold these people and evaluate them. I receive calls all the time concerning this."

Henry Guerra said he only had a few words, Civilian Conservation Center (also known as Job Corps). The people need jobs and to be given dignity. Some do want to work. He suggested putting them to work to build their own facility. They would be too tired to be causing trouble or doing drugs. The government program started years ago and got people off the street and gave them jobs and dignity. They had an income and it gave them a chance. "I am tired of dealing with the people in my neighborhood. Nothing is being done. We need to take and clean the streets and take the dope out."

Frances Gonzales, Bayard city council, said she had a background in dealing with mental health issues before she retired. She went over what they had in Arizona for evaluations and facilities that had helped a lot. Another piece that needs to be tied into this equation will be probation and parole. She brought up the need for crisis teams, which they used to have locally.

Tim Aldrich of the district attorney's office said he had come to the aea 11 years ago, and they support the community and want to make it better. "It is a priority." He said he had sat at every chair in the criminal justice system. He asked Renteria what they would be doing to maintain what they had done and grow it.

Renteria said they had gotten $100,000 for each county that will be used for mental health and domestic violence. They also received junior bills that will provide forensic interview rooms to use for children and youth and now will have one in each county, which they didn't have before. "I am a social worker and that was my first degree before I went to law school. It is my job to unite us and bring us together."

Martha Blacklock moved here in 2008 and commented on the historic districts. "We have to build on what we have and that is we are human beings." Being able to give makes a person feel good but when something has been taken away they are being disrespected. Then the choice on what to do about that feeling. She said she lives on Corbin Street and E Street and walks her dogs. She meets people on the way to the shelter and has never felt she was in danger. Another experience has been three years living across the street from a drug house and criminal enterprise. "I would like to see law enforcement and judicial to focus on actual crime. They don't need to respond to people yelling at each other; it takes up a lot of time."

A resident said he had known and gone to school with many of the people on the panel. He reflected back to what was said by someone previously concerning prevention. His life has been working with children and trauma as a social worker and has worked in the tri-county. "We don't hear from the child's voice. We need to step up."

Brian Stengel said he is department of health trained. Recently they did a survey with local people at the SPIN facility and offered $5 and had 35 participate. They wanted to find out what drugs they had been using and how much. The ages ranged from 21-67 with a median range of 45. Those using opioids had been 22.9 percent and 71.4 percent used stimulants and sometimes both at the same time. Many used alcohol with the drug use. He had other statistics. Farmington has a problem with alcohol and Silver City area has a problem with stimulants. He was asked about fentanyl in the stats, and he said 22.9 percent said they used fentanyl, but it was different from stimulants.

A resident that had attended said she wanted to relay some information. "The community needs to let the representatives know what is going on and how they want things changed." She referred to an incident of an attempted abduction of a young girl near the food coop. She could not find anything in police report or anywhere on the incident. She said she spent a lot of time trying to find out information of this and could not ever find anything. "If you want the community to get involved you must let them know what is going on. People are upset and fed up." She said she knew about people who can't sleep at night because of the homeless but this will turn them. She had just moved here from downtown Phoenix and near homeless camps.

Luis Alvarez, associate superintendent Silver Consolidated Schools, said: They had been able to secure a $5 million health grant. They created wellness rooms and already have had students use these over 300 times in the high school. Many students suffered from the effects of covid with the loss of being able to be social. The wellness rooms have been effective and stopped some issues from escalating. "I did not expect to see so many using the wellness rooms." They have them at all the schools now. He thanked everyone for the support of the grant.

Ponce said a lot of good points had been made and they don't communicate as much as they should. Certain rules must be followed, and plans have to be followed. Tu Casa has been doing a good job and credited Dr. Teresa Arizaga for doing a great job. They have a full plate with the facility. They have secured $1 million to get a 23-hour crisis unit and have been working on that plan. He went over some of the past problems and what they have been doing to fix those. "We are doing the best we can, and I am glad to see grants coming in. There are no easy solutions or answers, but we are trying with what we have." The jail has been costing the county $4.3 million a year. Speaking for myself, "We sometimes forget to keep the community up to date. Be patient; we are trying."

Gonzales wanted to bring something up that she knew Cobre Schools needed to address in behavioral management. With some of the recent suicides, the community needs to know about the stats and ages of these.

Patricia Cano said, "We have these problems, but we also have a problem with the hospital. I was in the emergency room a few days ago and didn't feel cared for." It took four hours to be taken care of and no one identified themselves. No one ever offered any water or a blanket. "We have to fix the regular health care at the hospital before the mental health care can be addressed. We deserve much better care." She asked people if they had a bad experience at the hospital to let people know. "We have to speak up and then unite."

Nancy Stevens, a school social worker, after listening to everyone, said she had one question for the panel. What system did they have in place for communication for law enforcement, city, county, and hospital? She commented that after attending the Farmington presentation they all seemed to have a good communication in place. Someone that works with the task force for the homeless said they have been putting together a power point presentation and want to become the hub for information and be the one stop place for information.

Sylvia Portillo thanked Renteria for helping, Her sister had spoken earlier on the catch and release. She went over her niece being deemed incompetent and her schizophrenia has been out of control. She had assaulted health care personnel and they don't know if it has been drug induced but she is always bonded out without any money. It has been frustrating to watch and worriesome because she has been obsessed with fire. They can't get her into a facility to get her the proper care. "There is a flaw in the system."

Renteria went over the statutes that affect this. "We have to show the judge they are dangerous, and the judge makes the decision. I have no keys to the jail. It is a battle."

Dr. Stacey Cox, Center for Health Innovation Public Health Institute, wanted to follow up on what Ponce had said. They have been having a lot of discussion on the homeless. Only six states in the nation don't have centralized health care and New Mexico is one of them. They have been doing a survey and one of the main things to come out has been people expressed frustration and being disparaged. She announced that in a few days they would be having a meeting to continue this survey and add on to it and invited everyone to attend.

Terrazas thanked everyone for being at the event, both citizens and officials that attended. "I have had many conversations with many entities on all the issues." Recently they had presentations from local entities with requests for capital outlay funding. Those needs totaled $98 million for Grant County alone. The rules need to be changed on a lot of things. He went over some of the problems that should be addressed. Municipalities without officers, CYFD completely broken, all nonpolitical issues but important to the health of the communities. Doctors leaving because of the cost of medical malpractice. Fentanyl coming over the border and many people dying from it. "We need to work together, and I am proud of our community coming together to share our frustrations." Bringing it all to the surface will help find ways to find solutions.