By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a regular meeting April 24, 2025. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Trustees Olga Amador, Peter Erickson, and Ralph Trujillo attended. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza didn't attend.

The council approved the agenda, past meeting minutes and department head reports.

Mayor's report

Lopez said the little restaurant had opened and it had been a long time coming. Eventually they will have a grand opening, and a date would be announced later. All of the projects for the village have been on track, but they have had some holdups for whatever reason such as permits.

The Tour of the Gila would be at Fort Bayard the next day and the Santa Clara police department would be there to help out. The fire department would be taking a four-to-five month free first responder training from Gila Regional Medical Center. It will allow the department to help out more on EMS calls. Larry Sandoval, fire chief, has been the only one with training and has had to handle all the calls and Lopez said it had been about 65-70 calls a month.

The following week they would be doing the annual clean up that Freeport McMoRan sponsors. Large dumpsters would be provided at no charge. This event is done in connection with Bayard and Hurley also. They would be picking up garbage for the event for people in need and already had a list of about 20 people.

The village will be starting music in the park in June. The new restaurant, El Colibri Café, has said on those evenings they will see about being open. They have also said they might start opening at 7:30 in the morning instead of 8:00 and closing a little later because they have been very busy.

The fire department will have a new brush truck coming. The other one could no longer have the pump fixed due to the part not being made anymore. Sandoval had been able to obtain a grant for the new truck.

Public comment

All that came to speak would be talking about a man in town that had been lighting fires. Generally public comment has to be about something on the agenda, but since this had to do with public safety Lopez said he would allow it. Both the police chief and fire chief had attended. They all knew the man and had personally seen him.

Patricia Montgomery said the past Friday around 2:00 pm this man came out of the house across the street from them and started a fire in the empty lot. Within ten minutes the fire had spread across the lot, it had just blown up. The fire passed into their yard and started their rose bushes on fire. These bushes attach to a wood fence and the carport. During this a sheriff deputy had gone by with a funeral procession and called the fire department. She knew of other fires happening. Other than staying at home all the time to guard her home she wanted to know what else to do. "We feel powerless."

Buzz Montgomery said he would have never been able to put the fire out himself. He said he has now had to pay someone to clean up the alley to help further keep their property safe. "We are living in fear. We feel endangered by this person." They had witnessed him set the fire. He had been arrested but they saw him out 24 hours later.

Eva Sierra said she had numerous run ins with this same man. He has been deemed incompetent so nothing that they do sticks and all charges always end up dropped. She had video of him starting a fire and just watching it. The man had been targeting her for two years and nothing done has helped. "Does someone have to get hurt or maybe the whole neighborhood? He is a threat to the community and not just me."

Linda Acosta said the fire had been in their alley. Her daughter and a neighbor's daughter had been able to put the fire out by the time the fire department had come. She had ended up in the emergency room twice due to smoke inhalation. The doctors told her it would take at least three months to heal. "Us talking to you will not make an impact because it has not happened to you."

Ruby Acosta, the daughter, said this would not be the first fire he started and nothing can be done because of his mental status. "I got smoke inhalation, and he thought it was fun to watch." Because of this she had lost work time and now has medical bills. Her throat and lungs had been damaged. She said he knows what he does and just uses incompetence as the excuse. He thought it would be fun to watch people's homes burn. People could have been hurt. She had not been able to work for a week and still has a hard time walking without losing breath. Because of this man she has an ambulance bill, hospital bill and unpaid time from work. Yet this man walks free and doesn't have to pay for anything due to mental illness. "Nobody understands until it affects you. It goes unnoticed and unpunished."

Police Chief Lonnie Sandoval said he has been dealing with this man for years. He has been trying to help Sierra with her situation for years. "I feel for her. The system is not working." Once someone has been deemed incompetent everything they do will be ignored. The department tries to do their job, and this person keeps being let go. Sandoval said until he reaches a certain degree of what the court thinks would be a danger to society he will continue to be let go. Buzz Montgomery said he had been made to feel like the criminal reporting him. He had been found in the yard and chased off. "He won't stop until he kills." They all spoke to his needing to be in an institution and it being the judge's fault and which judge would be the reason. He lives with his parents and the discussion came to them being responsible. Sandoval encouraged them to speak out and continue to take videos. Eventually they would have something that would keep him in jail. They all had various stories on what they had caught this man doing and stopped him.

Sandoval said they have been doing the best they could by arresting this person, but the judge lets him out. The residents asked if it would help when he went to court if they attended and he said yes. They discussed how to find out when his court dates happened.

The residents and Sandoval discussed the charges that could and could not be made on this person. The residents felt if he started the fire, his intent would be to harm and injure people. It continued for some time. Sandoval told the group his department has been on high alert concerning this person. This man had set fires in the Big Ditch in Silver City and the homeless shelter there.

Lopez said he backed the chiefs 100 percent but thanked everyone who had come to speak on the situation. He did want to remind people the fire department takes a little while. Unfortunately, he knew the system has been broken and they can only do what they can. He asked them all to be vigilant. "We have a new district attorney, and I encouraged you to all reach out and speak to him." The residents asked the council to also reach out and possibly add more weight to the argument with maybe a letter from the council. Lopez said he would speak to the village attorney and see what they could do.

Lopez spoke to the comments about them not doing anything until it happened to them, and he said that had been unfair. "We are trying to do the best we can." The chief had called him and said they arrested him, and he already had been let out of jail. He asked them to speak to the legislators, this happens because of the state of New Mexico laws. "The system is broken and when you talk to any police department, they talk about how they arrest people, and they are just letting out the people that should be kept in and keeping the people in that should be let out." He said again he would contact the village attorney and see what the village could do concerning contacting the district attorney.

Lopez went back to the clean-up day coming and hopefully people would take it seriously and put stuff out on the curb for pickup. People don't take responsibility to clean up their own yards. They would not do anything until something happens to them and then they would want to fight. That's not fair to anybody that tries their best to keep up their yards. He addressed the responsibility of the alleyways and how much would be on the property owners and how much would be on the village. He acknowledged some of the alleyways being the village responsibility but cited the village being shorthanded and lack of money in the budget. He then went on to say people should take pride in their area even if it falls on the city easement. He acknowledged some people could not financially or physically keep their yard up.

Old business

The council approved two task orders, one for a Colonias grant for water system improvements and the Fort Bayard, old nurses quarters, asbestos and lead abatement. Leandra Esparza, village clerk, said they had received $2.2 million to improve the water systems and would be for well number 4 and then give well number 3 a break and repair it. The Fort Bayard building will require putting out an RFP (request for proposal) for the job.

Resolutions

The council approved both resolutions brought forward, resolution 2025-11 and 2025-12. Each one supports the application and matching funds for two projects. Esparza said one would be for the sidewalks on Maple Street and the other would be various streets.

First regular meeting to be held Thursday May 8, 2025, at 6:00 pm
Public hearing will be held Thursday May 15, 2025, at 6:00 pm for the proposed cannabis business.
Second regular meeting to be held Thursday May 22, 2025, at 6:00 pm

Meeting Adjourned