By Lynn Janes

The town of Hurley had a regular meeting January 20, 2026. Mayor Reynaldo Maynes, Aron Phillips, Ester Gil and Robert Candelaria attended. 

Maynes called the meeting to order.

The town of Hurley had received one letter of interest for the council position left open by Maynes. Robert Jason Cox had submitted a letter of interest. 

Jason Cox said he had grown up in Hurley and lived there the majority of his life. Currently he works as the animal control officer for Grant County. At one time he had been the animal control officer in Hurley and owns a business in the town. He wants to see Hurley grow and head in the right direction. 

Public input

Heidi Erstad had come to address the council as a representative of the Bird Alliance of Southwestern New Mexico. It is a chapter of the national Audubon Society with a mission to inspire the love for and protection of southwest New Mexico birds and their habitat. She had come to speak on the proposed animal ordinance changes. The changes would impact birds negatively in the area, and she read through some of the language. Specifically, the definition of community cat caregivers, caregivers must make every effort to minimize the impact on local wildlife. “Feral cats are by far the largest source of human-caused mortality for birds.” Erstad provided stats that say 60-100 million cats would be free ranging, also called feral, and each of those cats would be responsible for killing 30-40 birds every year. That would translate to 4 billion birds a year in the United States alone. She spoke specifically to feral cat colonies being a problem. 

Archi Padilla, president of New Mexico Borderland Animal Rescue Coalition (BARC), congratulated everyone on their elections and appointments. She had not intended to make a public comment but after hearing Erstad speak she wanted to point out some information. The TNVR (trap neuter vaccinate return) program they want to embark on with Hurley has shown in studies that just picking up cats and euthanizing them does not work to cut the population. This has been done for decades with no changes. With TNVR they can control the population over time. She had many studies she offered to provide that show this method worked. 

The council approved the appointment of Jason Cox for the open council seat left by Maynes. McBride swore him in, and his appointment will be until December 31, 2027.

Maynes recommended Phillips for the position of mayor pro tem. The council approved the appointment.

Appointments of at will employees and regular employees. Maynes made the recommendation, and the council approved of the following.

Town clerk / treasurer will remain Darlene McBride

Police Chief will remain Kevin Vigil

Fire Chief will remain Jay Madrid

All other employees will remain the same.

Organizational appointments

Maynes will oversee the police department, animal control, economic development and fire department. He will also represent the town with the Grant County Water Commission, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments, Grant County Regional Dispatch, Southwest Solid Waste Authority and Copper Collaborative.

Phillips will oversee the public works department, water and wastewater. He will be the alternative for the Grant County Water Commission, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments, Grant County Regional Dispatch, Southwest Solid Waste Authority and Copper Collaborative.

Gil will oversee the cemetery department, library and economic development.

Candelaria will oversee parks and recreation. 

Cox will oversee landfill and solid waste departments. He will represent the town for the tri city landfill commission and be the alternative to Southwest Solid Waste Authority and economic development. 

The council approved resolution no. 14-2025/2026 for the town of Hurley's governing body rules of procedure. McBride said this would just be the rules and procedures on how the meetings would be run and lists who would run the meeting and who will in the absence of the mayor. It also lists how the agenda will be prepared.

The council approved the consent agenda that included meeting minutes and department head reports. 

Vigil provided an end of year report to the council. For the calendar year of 2025 they had approximately 665 calls that the Hurley police department took and does not include calls made by the state police and sheriff's department. He went over some of the more notable calls, at the beginning of the year he had apprehended 11 undocumented immigrants that had been locked in the back of a U-Haul truck. They had received a call about a child that had been sexually abused and the person responsible had been arrested within 72 hours. They had a high speed chase initiated by the police department and that ended with the person being charged with a DWI and other felony offenses. He continued with statistics for the town and department. He understands that the citizens have complaints and don’t see them around. He felt providing this information would help see they have been out and about. 

Vigil said he found himself understaffed but Hurley has been having that problem. He said he has been working to change that and has been working with the mayor to see what can be done. “The biggest obstacle for Hurley is not being able to compete with other agencies.” His goal will be to bring in and keep officers here for the community. It bothers him that at times the residents must wait an hour or more  because the sheriff’s department can’t respond. 

The council approved the placement of a manufactured home at 303 Aztec. Vigil said he had been approached by Mr. Madrid to move the home from one part of town to this address. Vigil has asked that he provide documentation due to the age of the home to determine that it could be moved, and he provided that from the company that would be moving it. Mr. Madrid had also agreed to follow all council recommendations. Gil asked if the properties would be cleaned up and the motor home moved, and Vigil said yes it would be. 

The council approved the purchase order for Advanced Communications to purchase radios for the fire department. Fire Chief Jay Madrid said this will be for five radios. Currently he does not have enough radios for the department. These radios have been approved and required by the fire marshal. Candelaria had a few questions about the technology that the fire chief answered, and Gil asked if it would be paid with fire funds. The purchase would be paid for out of the fire fund. 

Cox, representing Grant County animal control, had asked to present on the proposed animal control ordinance and had been joined by Heidi Ogas, president High Desert humane society and Vicki Toney, Silver City animal control officer. Cox said feral cats have not just been a problem in Hurley but everywhere. He has approached the county manager about banning trap and release in the county. Currently it violates many parts of the county ordinance from abandonment to animal cruelty. He said, “Even PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) can’t back it, which should tell you a lot. It promotes abandonment.” He had witnessed some of the negative effects in Hurley two weeks earlier. Some dogs had escaped and killed a cat. A lady had told him the cat had recently been placed there by BARC through the trap and release program. “In New Mexico animals are considered property and if no one owns the property, I can’t charge anyone if there is a crime.” He spoke to feral colonies attracting predators such as the rabid coyote that recently had been found that bit someone at Little Walnut. “If that happens in Hurley it will not be on BARC but on the town.” 

Ogas started by saying that the High Desert humane society sides with PETA. “Feral cat colonies are inhumane.” She had seen some gruesome things with these colonies. “These are domesticated animals that are forced to fight for their lives and have hierarchies and territories. Cats are natural hunters and kill four billion birds a year not to mention other wildlife.” Her primary concern on the proposed ordinance referred the cat colonies. How she read it was if a cat owner just clips the ear of the cat, they can claim that it will be a community cat making it exempt from several other provisions in the ordinance and avoid fines. Ogas read a New Mexico statute on vaccination and the continued requirement. The veterinarian must issue an owner certificate listing the name and address. “Who will that be with a community cat?” They must also provide a tag that the cat must always wear. She felt this will be a public safety issue and asked how they would make sure these cats continued to be vaccinated regularly. Ogas continued with several other problems she felt had not been considered. 

Toney said she has been cross trained with Grant County animal control. She had been doing animal control for 10 years and had seen some horrific sights in feral cat colonies. She had seen people abandon their animals at Walmart because people come feed them. Before she came to work for Silver City animal control, she had tried to do trap neuter release in Deming, and it had not worked. All but one of the cats died and that had been because a friend took the cat in. They had died by car or predator. “It is cruel and inhumane.” 

Cox said they had heard a lot of numbers and quoted more numbers on the amount of animals that feral cats kill. He said his biggest thing, when he shows up after someone has been bitten, the discussion always ends in who will be paying the bill. It would be the owner and if the cat does not have an owner and the town has allowed community cats, the town will be the owner. “You are putting the town at risk for liability.” Maynes asked how many times he had seen community cats, feral cats bite. Cox said last year he had to go through the rabies protocol from being bit ten by a feral cat. Toney said when an animal has rabies it can be either aggressive or timid. Ogas said they had a situation of a feral cat that had been charging people to protect its territory. They asked the council to look into the information PETA had on feral cat colonies. 

Maynes asked if the attorney had reviewed the ordinance proposed and McBride said no. He recommended they table the ordinance until it had been reviewed, and a public workshop had been held. Maynes said maybe they could come to some common ground. The council tabled the ordinance. Cox abstained. 

The council approved the end of the probationary period for Melanie Baca, librarian. McBride said she had been doing really well organizing the library and motivating people to come and utilize it. She had stepped up to learn more about the library role, since it was a new position for the town. She also has collaborated with the Bayard library doing community outreach and events. She will remain at the same pay and 15 hours a week. 

Mayor and council reports. 

Phillips said he had attended training in Santa Fe and had learned a lot. He did learn that the communities in the state needed to prepare for a lot less grant money to be available and to prioritize what the needs will be. 

Gill did not have anything to report.

Candelaria did not have anything to report.

Cox thanked them for the opportunity to help move the town in the right direction.

Maynes spoke to the upcoming Grant County Days at the legislature and said he would be attending. He will be lobbying to obtain funding for the town and had met with Representative Luis Terrazas and Senator Gabriel Ramos, and they had told him for every million they ask for they have been lucky to obtain thirty percent. 

The council went into closed session relating to matters with the police department. 

Meeting adjourned.