By Roger Lanse
At its Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 meeting the Silver City Town Council approved a notice of intent ordinance, sponsored by District 1 Councilor Cynthia Bettison, which would enable the town’s animal control officer to write citations. Bettison explained that under the ordinance as written the ACO was not allowed to cite for animal-related infractions but had to call in the code enforcement officer or another officer. Bettison said: “It’s just a simple move so that she (ACO Vickie Toney), can actually cite. There’s no changes to the nuisances in this. It’s just really moving it to a place where she can do her job and cite for nuisances.” The NOI would amend certain subsections of sections 6 and 32 and add a new Section 32-14 to the Municipal Code.
Town Attorney Robert Scavron said, “It’s accommodating the interpretation given by the municipal court judge. So, to make it clearer you just move things around. It’s more or less housekeeping.”
District 2 Councilor Lynda Aiman-Smith wanted residents to know the measure is an NOI, which means it is open for comment, and encouraged residents to make their views known on the subject of animal nuisances.
Police Chief Freddie Portillo said if the NOI is not approved the department has enough manpower to continue to handle the animal complaint citations, but if the ACO had that capability it would make things easier for the department.
Town Manager Alex Brown in answer to a question by District 3 Councilor Jose Ray Jr. offered to have a report ready for the next council meeting listing the number of complaints received by the ACO regarding animals bothering people, bicycles, and vehicles.
Bettison praised the Boy Scouts for their canned food drive to make food available for those folks in need.
District 4 Councilor Guadalupe Cano said she has been getting a lot of questions about the minimum wage bill that has been introduced in the state legislature and asked Brown how that might affect the town. Brown answered that “It will not affect us because all of the employees we hire the base wages are $9.50. It will be a slight increase on the base wage, but everything else is no problem.”
Mayor Ken Ladner introduced Bart Roselli, Silver City Museum Education & Programs Coordinator, who described the various events scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 16, relating to Territorial Charter Day. Events include, an urban challenge run, horse and wagon rides, talks, girl scouts singing New Mexican songs, a walking tour, square dance and line dance demonstrations, and the Territorial Charter Day Ball in the Murray Hotel Ballroom from 7-11 p.m. Tickets to the Ball are $10 and available from Vintage Fantasies and the Silver City Museum.
In a final action, council approved a memorandum of understanding between the town and the Rosedale Mutual Domestic Water Consumer’s Association, which lists conditions for the sale of water from the town to the RMDWCA.