By Mary Alice Murphy

The featured speaker for the luncheon was Rusty Tolley, board member of SASS—Silver Regional Sexual Assault Support Services.

"Sexual assault is one of the most traumatic, devastating and confusing things to happen to people," Tolley said. "Funerals and sickness in a hospital have protocols."

He said criminal justice has to address domestic violence. "But whose rights are addressed in the criminal justice system. It's geared to take care of the defendant, but too often sexual assault survivors don't get justice. Very few perpetrators of sexual assault get prosecuted. There are two people in a sexual assault case —one is a sophisticated liar and one is the confused victim, often a child."

SASS offers services in Grant and Hidalgo counties. "We provide legal accompaniment. Our goal is to see that survivors get justice. We provide to our clients counseling, advocacy, and some monetary help. I used to do forensic interviews and now we have it at SASS."

"I'm here to promote our Zeal for Teal dinner and dance fundraiser on April 5, 2019, at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Conference Center. A ticket is $35 for one person and we have sponsorships available for $200 to $500. We will have a silent auction and are looking for donations for the silent auction."

SASS has moved to Hudson Street in the old Allstate Office. Chelsea Cooper serves as executive director.

An audience member asked if SASS provides training classes for helpers. Tolley said SASS does offer training classes for volunteers, "which we are always recruiting."

Randy Salars said he ran the Gospel Mission for many years. "We sent people to SASS. They will work with the person to get through the process."

Taffy Arias of Gila Regional Medical Center asked about the volume of clients.

Tolley said he just recently got elected to the board. "At the last meeting, I heard we had from six to a dozen new ones coming in during a month. A similar number are contacting the crisis line. Some are still in the system and receiving counseling and court support. We are dealing with between 36-50 people at a time."

A questioner asked if SASS works with El Refugio (the domestic violence shelter).

"We are a different organization, but we refer people to one another," Tolley said. "We need an organization to address children in homes with domestic violence."

Chamber Board President and Director Scott Terry said he wanted to hear what members would "like for us to do."

"We have cool things happening," Terry said. "At the legislative session, a $1.5 million appropriation passed the House for the UNM Cancer Center and Gila Regional Medical Center. We are always hearing that there is nothing for kids to do."

Cynthia Bettison, Silver City mayor pro tem, said the council is discussion with staff about a splash park for kids in town. "It will be presented to the council."

Terry said: "It would be fantastic. The county voters last year passed the bond issue. I know they will work on roads and upgrading buildings."

Commissioner Billy Billings said: "We went to the voters. We have $21 million in road needs, but we got $4 million to get started. In more of a process that was less political, we will be fixing county buildings that have leaky roofs, making them ADA compliant and fixing HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems."

Bettison said town staff will figure out if the splash park is viable. "Alex (Brown, town manager) is good at figuring these things out on what the town can do. We now have new public restrooms at the MainStreet Plaza. It took a long time, but they are in place."

Terry noted that the Washington Federal Bank lease will not be renewed by the town, because Silver City plans to move offices into the space.

Bettison said a committee will decide if and where the splash park will go. "They are considering closing 12th Street between Gough Park and the parking lot to the south. They are also considering whether to allow alcohol in the park."

Terry asked the members present what they would like to see in the town within five years.

Kevin Kavanaugh of Lawley Toyota noted that he didn't see tourists in town other than for events. "We need anything that can bring in more people to Silver City."

Terry noted that the town had hired a marketing firm that hopefully can achieve more tourism for the town and area.

"We've already seen a big jump in lodgers' tax, since we hired the firm," Bettison said.

"Construction of Pinos Altos Road and the new senior living facility are keeping rooms full," Terry said. "Tourists come in for a couple of days and leave their money. We like that."

He also said that it looks more promising at the state level that Santa Clara will be allowed to annex at least part of Fort Bayard. "The rent for buildings on the campus would go to Santa Clara, which would spend it fixing up the place. The Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society is opening a new Visitor Center at the old Armory, which is owned by Santa Clara. The Fort Bayard National Cemetery is really looking good. It is definitely a place of honor we can be proud of."

Jon Eickhoff of Georgetown Cabins said he and his wife, Susie, had owned an engineering company in the upper Midwest, before moving to New Mexico. "We could not have existed in Silver City or Grant County. The skilled manufacturing trades we needed do not exist here. It's expensive, but vital to have them."

Terry said Silver Schools is holding a Community Dialogue with an emphasis on meeting trade skill needs. "We have to get a way to get the younger generation interested in the skilled trades."

John Sterle, veteran, said Deming has a new high school and one portion of it is dedicated to the trades. They have thought forward enough to concentrate on these things."

Terry said the Silver Schools now has 3-D printers and laser cutters. "They can etch on glass. They have talked a lot about vocational training, but it takes time to build the programs. Several years ago, the schools discovered they couldn't accommodate the students taking standardized tests, because their old computers couldn't handle the volume, so, they addressed the issue."

He noted that two main bills were going through the Legislature on raising the minimum wage. "You better have plans, because likely on July 1, your business expenses will go up."

Terry said whether a person agreed or not on the mining bills introduced at the session, "at the County meeting, we were trying to support our huge industry. No one wants bad drinking water, but we were thankful for everyone who came out in support of mining."

Pat Hunt said she serves on the Public Library Foundation. "Ken Dayer, the library director, has a vision to create a room for teens. I think the library is a hidden gem in Silver City."

A woman attendee said she likes Silver City and its diversity, but "some things I see I don't agree with."

Terry said there are a lot of things "we love and a lot we don't, but we love more than not. It's hard to get here, but you'll like its beauty, topography, diversity of people. We do need to find ways to create more jobs. Housing is flat. The Census Bureau says we are losing population. Families are leaving, but retiree couple are coming in. We'll see what the census says next year. We are losing one of our Dollar General stores."

Dan Cook, realtor, said the town is seeing a low number of new construction permits. "We saw only 15 in a year. It costs $250 a square foot to build new, but $100 a square foot to buy."

Terry noted that the state is looking to bring people in from high-tax states like New York and California.

"What are things you don't like about the chamber?" Terry asked.

Anita Williams asked if the chamber works with government.

"We work closely with the county and with the city," Terry replied. "What I ask is how can the chamber members work to support one another. We send out three-pound packets to people who inquire about Silver City. During the legislative session, we ask what we can support. We are a private corporation."

Susie Eickhoff said Georgetown Cabins appreciates when Silver City is occasionally in the Top 10 of some survey or another.

"Some people travel around and ask us to pay them so they can write a nice article about us," Terry said. "We're lumped in with small towns. Why not promote the Tour of the Gila, which is one of the best bicycle races in the country? It's getting big enough that we are running out of hotel rooms. When the USAAA tournaments come to town, it's the same. They run out of rooms. We need more bed and breakfasts, more AirBNBs. The marketing firm is planting articles in larger magazines. We need more rooms."

Steve Chiang of Techondemand services said he has been here for 13 years. "There is a learning curve around here that is hard. Grant County Goodies is a reasonable source for finding plumbers, for instance, but when I opened my business three years ago, I had trouble getting information out. I wish there were a better way to find resources."

Terry said business members can list themselves on silvercity.org. "If you can't find a resource, call the chamber and we'll help. One thing we do more than anyone else is give out information. What I don't like is when something is going on and we don't find out until after it's over. Let us know before it happens."

Call the Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce at 575-538-3785.