Police Chief Freddie Portillo recognized at Silver City town council meeting

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a regular meeting June 24, 2025. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ken Ladner, Mayor Pro Tem Guadalupe Cano, Nicholas Prince, Rudy Bencomo and Stan Snider (phone). 

Ceremonies

The animal control officers and code enforcement officers wanted to recognize Police Chief Freddie Portillo. Corporal Manny Jaure presented the letter of appreciation and a metal sign they had made for him with his name and 131 SCPD. Officer Thomas Hernandez and Officer Vicki Toney had come to honor Portillo also. They had listed on the agenda that code enforcement and animal control would be doing a presentation but had wanted to surprise Portillo with the gift and recognition. Jaure read the letter they had written:

“It is with great pride, deep respect and sincere appreciation that we come together today to recognize a truly remarkable leader: Chief of Police Freddy Portillo. As a token of our gratitude, we want to take a moment to reflect on Fred's incredible journey and the lasting impact he has made on our department, our community and the people who he had the privilege to work alongside him. 

“Fred began his career with the Silver City Police Department at 19 years old, back in 2006. From day one, his dedication to public service, the passion for community policing were clear. Through hard work and determination, he rose through the ranks and was promoted to the Chief of Police in March of 2019. Fred wasn't just working to serve the community. He is part of the community.

“Born and raised right here in Silver City. Fred has a deep understanding for the police, the challenges and the values that make our town special. His leadership reflects that deep connection, but Fred's impact goes beyond the badge. He's an incredible father, a devoted family man, and he leads with the same heart and strength at home as he does in uniform. Family is at the center of who Fred is, and the love and care extend to the way he treats everyone in the department. On a personal note, Jaure added ’I can say without a doubt, Fred has always been there for me and so many others. Through both hard times and good times, he's the kind of leader who puts others first.’

“He listens, he advises, he mentors, he supports his team both on and off the job. Fred has also gone above and beyond by working with other law enforcement agencies to make our department more effective, more proactive, and more responsive to the needs of our community. His ability to bring people together to work toward a common goal has made a real and lasting difference.

“Chief Portillo, your legacy isn't just your title or your service. It's the lives you've touched, the trust you've built, and the community you've help shape. Thank you for your dedication and leadership.”

Portillo said they had done a great job at hiding this from him, including his wife. “I really appreciate this, and it means a lot to me.” He said the town has a lot of great leaders and he couldn’t do his job without them and other members of the department. “I am speechless and not prepared. From the bottom of my heart, I’m very very grateful and very appreciative.” He said his family has always been supportive, and his parents had taught him morals and values. “When times are tough just suck it up.” 

Bencomo said, “Those are some special kind of words that were expressed regarding your leadership as a police officer. I know it is not always easy being in a leadership role dealing with personnel issues.” He had known Portillo for a lot of years and his son had played football with him and knew his family to be really good people. 

Snider thanked Portillo and said he had always been very responsible and helpful. 

Prince said he knew they didn’t always see eye to eye when it came to challenges going on in the community but had not doubted his commitment to the town and thanked him. 

Cano said when she saw his family walk in, she thought he might be announcing his retirement. She asked them not to scare her like that. She had known him before he had even been a police officer. “You have always been a man with high moral standards and ethics.” She told him she appreciated all he had done for the community and most people don’t see the things he had to do and just expected him to do miracles. “I do appreciate what you do.” She also thanked his wife because it could not be easy to be the police chief’s wife. 

Ladner said they had a lot of discussions, and one thing had always stood out to him. Portillo had commented, “Mayor I live in Silver City, I am a citizen here. I have family here and I want the best for them.” All of his actions Ladner thought supported that statement. Ladner thanked him for all he had done for the community.

Council comments

Bencomo thanked all the agencies that had come in to help with the Trout Fire. He had sat in on some of the briefings and had been impressed with the way they handled them. 

Snider thanked all those who had been helping with the Trout Fire.

Prince said, “While there's plenty of gratitude to go around and more still until this fire is done with, I do wish to extend my district's thanks, especially to our municipal fire department for putting down last week's flare-up on Highway 180.” He thanked the town and community for all they had done. He thought it to be true that tragedy brings out the best and worst in people but now had a renewed hope for the future. 

He encouraged the other council members and mayor to push for municipal resources to move forward with mitigation efforts. They need to look at every option. He cited some state legislation they can use to protect our properties and set standards. He commended the assistant town manager for the continued conversation with PNM to plan for buried power lines. Prince continued with talking about holding polluters responsible for knowingly degrading the environment to hazardous extremes and he knew of plenty of cases and hoped receipts have been kept so those people could be held liable who profit while others sweat, cry and bleed. 

Cano said she had been involved with a number of things concerning the Trout Fire. She had been at the convention center and on the radio and thanked all that had been involved in any way. Cano said a few people had not been thanked publicly and she wanted to mention them. Romeo Cruz and his staff have been working around the clock to make sure the evacuation center runs smoothly. She thanked Jamie Sechrist at the Gila Community Foundation. They had been working nonstop to make sure all the donations go to the right places. Lastly, she thanked Sabrina Pack from SkyWest Media. She runs the radio station that has been reporting a lot of important information but also put together a website, www.grantcountyemergency.org. The website has all the up to date information on the fire. 

Ladner wanted to recognize the American Legion who had prepared hundreds of meals for the firefighters. 

The council approved the meeting minutes from June 10, 2025.

Reports

Eloy Vasquez, fire marshal, came to speak about the Fourth of July changes. For many years they had hosted the fireworks up by Southwest Concreate and Paving yard. In consulting colleagues and town administration everyone had serious concerns on moving forward with the fireworks. Currently they have severe drought conditions and the Trout Fire. They made the decision to protect life and property and cancel the fireworks show this year and focus resources on the Trout Fire. He went over what had been happening with that fire. The town and county have still been at stage two fire restrictions and Vasquez said a lot of the community had still not been educated on the restrictions. They have had to respond to a number of calls for people violating the restrictions. He did thank the public for adhering to the fire restrictions. Once the rains start, they can drop back down to stage one restrictions. 

Fireworks sales still must be allowed due to state laws, but they have restricted a lot of them for sale. He hoped the community would still not use any fireworks this year. Vasquez said he would be available any time 575-519-8690. 

Cano said for those people reaching out to her and other council members they have done all they can do and banned all the fireworks they could. She said any further issues they needed to reach out to Representative Luis Terrazas or Senator Gabriel Ramos because the legislature sets the laws. 

Prince said from the people he spoke to last year’s fireworks show in this corner of the state had been great. He had also heard a lot of people cheering on the canceling of this year’s fireworks. 

Bencomo said in 2011 they had to cancel the fireworks because of a fire that had destroyed 60 structures and 13 or 14 had been large homes. One thing they had done at that time had been to reach out to the fireworks vendors and explain the situation. He suggested the fire department do that. Vasquez said they had.

Julian Madrid had come to provide a map of the new recreation center along with the proposed summer hours. It will have a lounge area, exercise room and two multipurpose rooms. It will also have three full middle school sized basketball courts. The center will also have a snack bar. Not on the map currently but it will have a small playground outside. The recreation center will have three full time positions, athletics recreation coordinator, special events coordinator and administrative assistant. 

Brown wanted to add a few things. The recreation center has a three lane track around the perimeter of the gym. Each basketball court will be lined with a volleyball court and three pickleball courts. Jacqui Olea, assistant town manager, said they will have an interactive learning platform system that allows kids to learn things while they exercise. It has interactive games projected on the wall that helps with math reading and science. It will also be able to project movies. Each basketball court has its own independent PA system as well as scoreboards. 

Madrid has been working on some software so people can do scheduling online. Olea added it would have ADA accessible areas to accommodate everyone in the community as well as pool tables and ping pong tables. It will have tables that interactive games can be played on as well as to do drafting for hands on learning. 

Cano had a question based on something Olea said about ADA access. It sounded like it would only be in the hallways and not the courts. Olea said no it would all be accessible; all of the seats would be movable. Tentatively the ribbon cutting will be on the July 17, 2025, and the opening to be determined. 

Managers report

Brown said Ladner had asked him to have the town attorney review some of the ordinances in Deming because Ladner had been told that they don’t have a homeless problem because of the ordinances. Charles Kretek, town attorney, had reviewed their ordinances. He said, as a resident of Deming, they have not solved their homeless problem. He said the town had very robust ordinances and thought for some things it would be a matter of enforcement. He will provide a report for the council showing the differences. 

New business

The council approved the reappointment of Tom Hester to the cemetery board. They had only received one application, and Hester had been recommended by the board chair. 

Ladner wanted to thank all of the volunteers in the community who serve at no pay on various boards and committees. “These people take their own time to sit in long meetings for the sole purpose of making Silver City better.”

Meeting adjourned