· The “Pet of the Week” was presented.
· World War II veteran Charles Miles was recognized for his service with the 63rd Infantry Division in Germany in 1945.
· The daughter of our Sister City, Nurnberg, Germany was presented a key to the city by Mayor Miyagishima. She is currently an intern with Southwest Environmental Services.
· A proclamation was read that declared September 26th as Playful Day in recognition of the efforts of the Playful Committee and Cyclovia group for their efforts to get Las Cruces recognized as a National Playful City
· A proclamation was read that declared Saturday, September 25th as National Hunting and Fishing Day in honor of their more than 30 years of conservation efforts. They will have demonstrations at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday thanks to the space provided by Councilor Small
· The Las Cruces Women’s Tailgaters softball Team was recognized for winning Third Place in the World Hispanic Softball Tournament recently in Gilbert, Arizona. Congratulations to them. They will play again in the Whole Enchilada Festival Tournament this weekend.
· The Mayor read a statement about the Closed Meeting on 9/16/10 concerning pending litigation involving Motel 6 and others.
Public Participation:· Latoya Garcia spoke in support of recycling
· Bert Jones, VP, Heaven on Earth also supported recycling
· Ryan Daley congratulated Terrence Moore and Robert Garza for opening up the academies for Police and Fire. He wants to know if the City is going to form a committee to take public comments and recommendations for the candidate for City Manager. He also asked if there is a City Code concerning removing signs from closed businesses? If so, why isn’t it being enforced. T. Moore said there was and he will be having discussion with the new Police Chief to enforce it. Mayor Miyagishima said sometimes it is better not to enforce it because boarded up buildings without signs give a negative impression of the City.
· Marlin McCormick spoke in favor of more bicycle safety
· Jim Harbison expressed concerns about selective enforcement of City Codes and Ordinances based on the Mayor’s statement to selectively not enforce some of the sign ordinance.
· Jacqueline Drummer expressed concerns about the trash on Bataan Memorial Parkway and the safety hazards it presents for bicyclists. The Mayor encouraged her to contact himself or members of the City staff to get it cleaned up.
Resolutions and/or Ordinances for Consent Agenda
Items #1, 4, 7, and 9 through 12 were removed from the consent agenda and all others were approved by a vote of 7/0
Resolutions and Ordinances for discussions
1. Item #1 concerned applying for a $200,000 BLM grant. Councilor Connor wanted to know why we were just now asking for approval to apply for the grant when we had already received it. Staff informed her that sometimes the suspense is too short to get it on the Council agenda. It was approved by a vote of 7/0.
2. Item #4 concerned the language in a resolution supporting Boys and Girls Club Capital Campaign efforts. The resolution specifies property near Hadley field. Councilors Thomas, Pedroza, Mayor Miyagishima and Director Denmark want the resolution to have more flexibility in location of any future Boys-Girls Club. It was approved by a vote of 7/0
3. Item # 7 concerned a 25% match of $76,000 for a NMDOT grant of $228,000. Councilor Connor questioned this since the project (and matching funds) weren’t funded in the budget. It passed by a vote of 7/0
4. Item #9 concerned the Police purchase of additional carbine-rifles. They will be funded from the Asset Forfeiture Fund. Terrence Moore stated this was consistent with previous actions. It was approved by a vote of 7/0
5. Item #10 concerned contract funding for Sandoval Construction Pricing Agreement.
Acting City Attorney Connolly said there was no legal issue and it was approved by a vote of 7/0
6. Item #11 concerned the purchase of one Front End Loader at a cost of $194,923. It was approved by a vote of 7/0
7. Item #12 concerned an additional $19,963 for a micro-surfacing contract previously approved by Council. Councilors Silva and Connor expressed concerns that their districts were not on the project lists. It passed by a vote of 7/0
8. Items #13 & 14 concerned approval of Liquor Licenses for St Clair Winery & Bistro and since there was no public opposition they were approved by a vote o 7/0
9. Item #15 was a straight forward resolution proposed by Councilor Connor that concerned the restricted use of cellphones, emails, texting, and electronic games during council meetings to prevent any conflict with the Open Meeting law. This proposal resulted in long and heated discussions between Council members themselves and the public. Councilors Small, Pedroza and Thomas expressed opposition to it and wanted more information and workshops presented by the State Attorney General on any need for it. Councilor Pedroza stated it would be too hard to enforce. The public responded their “integrity” should enforce it. Councilor Sorg doesn’t believe judicial standards apply to the “legislative process” of the City Council. City Attorney stated that the 3rd Judicial Court has previously ruled against the Council and that municipal governments are different from legislative bodies. Public comment included comments from Wynn Jacobs, Russ Warner, Ron Camunez, and Jim Harbison. Most had previously observed inattention of Council members due to their use of their laptops. One of the concerns is that the public cannot call Councilor members during meetings but others could privately communicate by emails. Several Councilors acknowledged that they read or exchanged emails from the public during Council meetings. Unfortunately, some members of the Council chose to publically condemn those who disagreed with their positions and comments. After being amended it was passed by a vote of 4/3 with Councilors Pedroza, Sorg & Thomas voting against it.
10. Items #17 concerning a routine Budget Adjustment, item # 18 concerning a memorandum of understanding between the City of Las Cruces and the Amador Hotel Foundation, and Item #19 concerning the restriction of public funds to purchase bottled water and to promote City of Las Cruces Municipal Drinking Water were approved by votes of 7/0
11. Item #20 concerned curbside recycling and also resulted in a lengthy discussion. Councilors Sorg and Pedroza indicated that they received overwhelming support for curbside recycling. Sorg wants a vigorous education program to educate the public on the what, where and how of recycling and was informed it is included in the contract. There was mixed public comment that generally supported recycling but not this program. Some felt it was the wrong time economically to impose additional fees on the public. Others were concerned about the role of government. Mayor Miyagishima said it was cheaper to pay the monthly fee than to drive to the recycle drop boxes. Councilor Thomas said that recycling is a public safety issue and the role of government. Furthermore the role of government is to make recycling convenient for the public. Councilor Connor said that she is 100% in support of recycling but not this resolution because there is no requirement to recycle but rather a requirement to pay the recycle fees. Many seniors will not fill a recycle container in four months but will still have to pay the monthly fee. She supports adding more collection bins. Councilor Small stated that recycling is a public safety issue and since it reduces our demand on foreign oil it is also a national security issue. Councilor Silva wants a comprehensive approach to reduce costs which would ultimately reduce “grappler” service to once a month to offset some of the costs. It was passed by a vote of 6/1 (Connor voted against it). NOTE: Approval of this resolution will only allow the Council to make a recommendation to the Utilities Rate Board to adopt this proposal. The public will still have an opportunity to express their concerns there.
Board Appointments or review of any proposed ordinances
The Mayor appointed John Muir to the Veterans Advisory Board and Will Mathews to the Airport Advisory Board.
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1 comments:
I can see that your city council is a collection of impractical buffoons determined to impose their silly, foolish, but costly ideological whims on the unknowing citizens of Las Cruces. Perhaps a lesson can be learned from this; KNOW WHO AND WHAT YOU'RE VOTING FOR BEFORE YOU VOTE.
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