By Frost McGahey, Investigative Reporter

Guadalupe "Lupe" Cano at the Municipal League meeting

"To all my Independent, Republican, and Democrat friends who aren't involved in the local party, I need your help," begins a Facebook post by Town Councilor Guadalupe Cano who is running for mayor in November.

"I wasn't planning to begin my campaign for Mayor until the 4th of July, but events this past week have shown that I need to start being a bit more vocal already. At least 4 "party leaders" have recently spoken out publicly about the need to find someone to run against ME, specifically."

What Cano is referring to is a meeting of the Grant County Democratic Party on March 12 at which Cano was signaled out as someone who needs to be voted out of office. Her offense is that she doesn't support the Police Advisory Board being turned into an ordinance.

A spokeswoman for the Citizens Advisory Board that has been pushing the Police Advisory Board said that if Cano did not vote for the Ordinance, she should be defeated at the next election and replaced with someone who would vote for it.

Cano continues, "I have spent months trying to find a compromise that will work best for the entire community, but because I don't automatically side with them, I need to be taken out. These are the people who concern me the most because groups who will stop at nothing to get their way (no matter what the issue is) are dangerous."

As the councilor for District 4, Cano has been elected to office 4 times. Formerly a Democrat she is now a registered Independent who has a history of working with both parties. In her post she says, "I wish you could all go to a Municipal League meeting so you could see how we all work together to make all of our communities stronger without ever asking what anyone's political party is. What matters is that we are getting work done. That's how government SHOULD be run.

I serve because I have a heart for this community and am concerned about our future…I need people to know that the local (Democratic) party is ALREADY making this personal and about things that have Nothing to do with my abilities as an elected official."

Cano concludes her post by asking for support now and until November.

When Councilor Cano was interviewed for this article, she also stated that the Grant County Democrat party had changed their rules so that only registered Democrats could attend. She's also being shunned by Democratic friends.

UPDATE: The Silver City Town Council meeting was held Tuesday, March 25, including a vote on whether or not to pass the Notice of Intent to put the Citizens' Advisory Board (CAB) to a vote at the April 8 Town Council meeting. Various members spoke out against the adopting the Board as a law including County Commissioner Eddie Flores who is also the Chief of Police for WNMU. Reasons for not implementing the Board included adding more red tape and undermining police autonomy and authority.

Councilors Nick Prince and Stan Snider voted for having the CAB Ordinance voted on April 8 while Rudy Bencomo and Guadalupe Cano voted against. Mayor Ken Ladner cast the deciding vote against the ordinance coming up for a vote at any future Town Council meeting.