By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a regular meeting January 14, 2025. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ken Ladner, Mayor Pro Tem Guadalupe Cano, Nicholas Prince, Rudy Bencomo and Stan Snider.

Council comments.

Snider said he had received a few dozen emails plus phone calls and texts supporting the proposed community advisory board. He thanked all that had reached out and attended the meeting to speak. He wanted to address a Silver City Daily Press headline that said, "Police Oversight on Silver City Agenda." "This is wrong, tonight they will be looking at an advisory board. Oversight indicates they will be involved in the day-to-day operations." The ordinance says if a board member would become involved, they would be removed. The correct term would be advisory.

Prince wished everyone a happy new year. He thanked the public for reaching out and this had been his fourth year as an elected official. "Democracy is fraught with conflict but so is life. I do believe regular engagement in public institutions especially the ones that enshrine and protect our individual and public rights is how we will make it through these next years with the least suffering." He brought up the California fires and an article in the New York Times. It spoke to the dropping home ownership as climate change shocks worsen. He saw many distressing parallels in this community. "My work has been to help the public navigate the hierarchies and bureaucracies to accomplish more than they can on their own. It has been tricky and traumatic." He continued with all the incidents he had been involved in. He had been impressed by the emergency response teams and had a list of federal websites people could go to for more information.

Bencomo said he had received a number of requests to approve the advisory board but had also received a number of requests not to. He had received an email from someone that he thought the whole council and mayor had also received. The email said that if the advisory board had been around when the woman had been shot by the police officer it would not have happened. "You don't know that, and I don't know that." It had been an unfortunate incident. He thanked the city for doing all the recent restriping of Silver Heights Boulevard. He had calls from residents that said it had helped them.

Cano wished everyone a happy new year and 2025 would be a great year for the town. It will bring the completion of several projects and some positive changes. She wanted to acknowledge why Alfred Sedillo, town clerk, had not attended the meeting. His mother-in-law Margaret Chavez had passed away. She said most would remember her from working in various retail stores and her beautiful hats. "She was an incredibly special woman to anyone lucky enough to know her and she will be very missed." She congratulated Jacqui Olea, community development, for being made acting assistant town manager. "I am thrilled to see this, and she has proven herself to be extremely knowledgeable and valuable. She will continue to be a great asset."

Cano want to thank everyone involved in opening the old recreation center as a warming center at night until January 21, 2025, at which time its need would be reevaluated. She specifically thanked Alex Brown, town manager, Olea and Patricia Cano, chair for housing and behavioral health task force. She also thanked Milo Lambert, fire chief and Eloy Vasquez, fire marshal, for providing the necessary permits and inspections to make it happen. She added Peter Pena, public works director, for having the building ready. Tiffany Throckmorton, Katherine McCarroll and Patricia Cano for being the ones to staff the center every night and coordinating the volunteers. She also mentioned Laura Aubrey, Mint Chip Creamery, and thanked her for acting as a headquarters to take in donations. Harvest Church had also provided a van to pick people up and take them to the warming center and she also wanted to thank them. Many people had provided donations of food and clothing that she also wanted to recognize. As word spread, the growth of the shelter had also and that has been because the volunteers had made them feel welcome and safe. The center will only be a place for people to stay warm and it will not be an overnight shelter or place for people to live temporarily but rather a place to come and have a hot meal and be away from the elements for a short time. "I am proud of the community response."

For the past year Jim Reynolds, city attorney, has been working on a code of conduct for the council and mayor. Guadalupe Cano said she believes it remains necessary and proposed a special work session to discuss it. The session would only be for about an hour and could be done before the second meeting in February. She would like it to be passed and implemented as soon as possible.

Guadalupe Cano said she tries not to give her opinions on things that don't relate to town business but the turmoil at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) does affect the town and she had also been asked by the faculty and staff to make a statement. She had been raised on the WNMU campus. Her father had been director of a now defunct program and a mental health professional. Her mother began as a director of a student success program focused on helping nontraditional students reach their educational goals. Later she had become a member of the faculty where she taught Spanish and Chicano studies for 25 years. She had also been involved in the faculty senate plus served the university in countless other ways. This example had helped Guadalupe Cano choose to become a student at WNMU. She had studied English and movement science. At the same time, she had been involved in many student organizations. After her studies she had given over 5,000 hours of unpaid volunteer service to the university. Because of this they inducted her into the alumni hall of fame in 2007. "I have continued service to WNMU for twelve years and spent time making sure the university is successful and has been proud to be an alumni and has through the years seen the good and bad."

She remembers her family having to live paycheck to paycheck as employees of WNMU. Her mother retired after 25 years as a full tenured professor teaching at least six face-to-face classes a semester. She didn't make a third of $200,000 that had been offered to the former president to teach two classes online without having to set foot on the campus. The decision of the former board of regents to offer him that plus a $1.9 million golden parachute had been a slap in the face to all members of the faculty and staff, past and present. "It will be incredibly hard for the university to bounce back. I am thankful to Siah Correa-Hemphill, past senator and her husband for starting the ball rolling by asking questions." She added that they have had a hard time through the process because people can be cruel but what they had done had been necessary. Public entities have to follow policies for a good reason. If they do not it's in the publics best interest for someone to ask questions.

This reminds other entities for the need of transparency to ensure checks and balances will always be in place. At this time, it will be Raul Torres', attorney general, job to attempt to sort out and rectify the situation. "I have many concerns on the ripple effect this will have on the community. WNMU's reputation has been destroyed in Santa Fe." She felt it would affect not only capital outlays for the university but other requests in Grant County. They might wonder if other entities have been run as poorly.

Guadalupe Cano also spoke to concerns about oversight. "While there are key differences between the board of regents and the town council there are many similarities. It is something to be aware of and use as a cautionary tale." She felt it imperative to have more safeguards in place to ensure Silver City continues to stay strong and resilient.

The council approved the minutes from the meeting December 10, 2024.

Public input

Victoria Reece said this would be her first time providing public input. She came to speak about the citizens advisory board, and she said she would be speaking for several boards she works with. "Two of them are extremely anxious, extremely nervous and extremely fearful about what is coming. PFLAG and LGBTQ citizens have been poorly treated by the police in the past, have been harassed and discriminated against. They are disrespected and are fearful." They had expressed being happy to have someone to come and talk to them and resolve issues. These groups have been afraid to come to the police because they don't know the police department. The sheriff's department had gone out of their way to reach out to the gay community by attending multiple meetings. Reece said the police department had never reached out. "These communities are afraid to come to the police department because not only do they have guns, but they can write tickets and harass you."

Because of these things Reece said having a group of citizens for them to work with to help them communicate with the police would be a wonderful first step in regaining that trust.

Patricia Cano wanted to thank everyone involved in helping to make the warming center happen. She didn't go over the names since Guadalupe Cano spoke to them earlier. Without all these people and the town administration it would not have happened. The center had been put together with the express purpose of preventing death from hypothermia and anyone unhoused or not having heat in their home had been welcome to come. They do need volunteers to staff the center during two shifts one being five pm until midnight and then midnight to eight am. Volunteers may also assist by washing bedding and clothing. They could also shop for dinner ingredients, fruits and snacks. Volunteers could also help by cleaning the warming center. The warming center number is 575-519-5940. She asked for people to be patient waiting for a call back as that person has been up all night working at the warming center. She invited the mayor and council to come visit any time. Each night the number of people increases. She thanked the people for their overwhelming support. Any donations can be taken to the Mint Chip Creamery.

Sharon Bookwalter came to speak on the citizen's advisory board. "I am a member of the Citizens for Safety and Community." They had proposed the ordinance for the citizen's advisory board. One of the functions of the board would be to hear complaints from citizens who for whatever reason have been reluctant to contact the police directly. Once they have heard those complaints, they would pass them on to the chief of police to handle according to protocol. She said nowhere in the ordinance did it give the board any power to make decisions on complaints, influence disciplinary action or to oversee any aspect of law enforcement.

The board would be composed of members of the community from the areas of mental health care, social work, public education and former law enforcement. The members would be appointed by the town council and mayor. Members of the board would lose their position if they interfered in the duties of law enforcement or communicated any information learned in their position on the board that had not been public record. The board would discreetly receive and convey issues to the chief of police that would handle them according to protocol. The board's role would be largely to bear witness and document the process. When citizens feel their rights have been violated or their needs ignored it would protect them. It protects the police and city to have a third party able to assure the complainants rights were respected and the issue given fair consideration.

They had worked on this proposed ordinance with input from the chief of police, police union representative, city manager, city attorney, mayor and various community organizations. She added they felt they had a good chief of police and found his input invaluable. He had made it clear that he does not embrace this concept but would be willing to give it fair consideration.

Bookwalter continued that this had not been something they had taken lightly or entered into without the understanding that it would be complicated and difficult to craft an ordinance that would be effectively written. It had been written and revised many times over the past four years. "We think we have a good police department, and we want to be able to grow and develop in a way that benefits the total health and wellbeing of the officers doing the work and the community that they serve and protect."

Ray Cressler came to speak about the citizen's advisory board. He had lived in Silver City for ten years and for six of those he had a coffee shop on Bullard Street. He currently works as a language arts teacher at Aldo Leopold Charter School. Cressler also has been a member of the Citizens for Safety and Community. He came to voice his support for the citizen's advisory board. It will be valuable in several ways: one, being to foster a dialogue aimed at addressing community wide issues. The board will bring people together from various relevant professions and diverse walks of life. By creating this the town would be sending a message to all of the citizens that the Silver City Police Department values their input. The board will also increase transparency and input without the need to keep certain information within the department. Someone might worry before reading the ordinance if the board would have any immediate impact in the efficacy of the police department. The success of the police officers equals the safety of the community.

Cressler said it would be essential to emphasize that the board would not interfere with the existing chain of command. It cannot set or change existing department policies or procedures. The board would have two roles. One to be an outlet for grievances and the second to advise. Its value will be the research and varied expertise it brings to the table as well as the transparency. "In a functioning democracy it's imperative that a balance be found between the guiding voice of the people and the knowledge of trained experts."

David Stapp came to speak on the citizen's advisory board. He said others had spoken better on his points and he passed his time.

Anne Lowe said she felt the citizens advisory board would be a win for all.

Delfina Jimenez came to speak on the citizen's advisory board. It should not be a policy making body and will compromise the ability for the police to do their jobs. She felt it had been proposed by people with an agenda against the police and law enforcement. They want to control and become the police department. They cannot understand what law enforcement goes through. "Unless you have been law enforcement, don't try and tell them how to do their jobs." She pointed out that transplants come from other states and want to change Silver City into what they left. "I see the citizens' advisory board as puppeteers, and they want to make our law enforcement officers puppets." The board would become the police, and she said that would not work and leave it as it is.

Jimenez explained further that if people had a problem with law enforcement, they needed to make an appointment with the police chief or mayor. The board would just be trying to control the law enforcement officers who are the ones putting their life on the line. She apologized if she had offended anyone. It had not been her intention. Her intention had been to support law enforcement officers one hundred percent. "The service they provide the community is priceless." Jimenez reminded everyone at one of the council meetings Prince had verbally attacked the police officers. "Due to that he is biased against the police department and should not have a vote."

Al Gamboa came to speak about the Silver City Museum. He spoke to high level talks and hopefully corrections concerning the museum but didn't want to say anything and throw a monkey wrench in a possibly great outcome. He wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of the elected officials and administration for doing so much for the community and told them to keep up the good job.

Steven Larimore came to speak about the citizen advisory board. He currently serves as the president of the Silver City Police Officers Association. If the ordinance passed to add the board, they would lose a lot of police officers. The advisory board would not be such a bad thing, but the ordinance had a lot of language that would give the board way too much control. It will push officers away. Many things need to be fixed before it should be implemented. It says each town councilor would need to nominate one board member. He said one specific councilman had decided to conduct his own investigation against a police officer. He had been spreading around town the officer was corrupt. The police officer left because of this. The department has been one officer away from being fully staffed. "If this ordinance passes as it is the department will lose more officers." Another part of the ordinance speaks to discipline. The department revises policies through a law firm. The ordinance further goes into if a person files a complaint, and they have not been happy about how it had been handled it must be readdressed. The department has a discipline matrix in their policies to help with how discipline will be done. This board would have the department going against this and it would violate policy.

The ordinance repeatedly speaks about the wish to strengthen and improve the current policies but that would be doing the exact opposite. It speaks to telling the department what it wants done concerning problems such as homelessness, addiction, metal illness, domestic violence, etc. The officers have been mandated to do yearly training on all of those issues from people with more knowledge than what the board will have. Training and education have been mandated by the state on all of these issues. Larimore said, "We don't need people that don't have law enforcement experience to be telling us how to do our jobs."

Last thing he wanted to add, the citizens advisory board didn't need to have any information relevant to hiring a police chief. The board does not have the knowledge. They would not know who would be the best candidate as police chief.

In closing Larimore said they would not be against a citizen advisory board, but many things currently in the ordinance would push officers away. It will affect the officers' ability to do their job and violates the union contract with the town.

Patsy Madrid came to say she had really enjoyed working with the museum society and volunteering. She came to promote the Territorial Charter Ball coming up February 15, 2025. It celebrates the town charter for the past five years. This year they will have the Illusion Band, and it will be at the Murray Hotel. She thanked the mayor and council for their support.

Jose Ray came to speak on the citizen advisory board. Snider had come and spoken with him, and he said the ordinance provided that they would not interfere with the department. At that time Ray told him maybe the advisory board would need an advisory board for them to oversee what they would be doing. The police chief has been doing a good job and Ray pointed out the hatred in the country and locally. "What we are doing, we are destroying ourselves because we want to be top dog. We can't." He felt the police needed to be left alone to do their job, as they know how to do their jobs. "I have lived here all my life, and we don't need this stuff. Don't fix what is not broken." Every department has bad apples in America no matter what department and it reflects down. "This is unfair to the chief, city manager and lawyer. I am hoping you guys vote against it."

Raul Turrieta came to speak about the upcoming Territorial Charter Ball. He referred back to what Madrid had said earlier and thanked her for all she has done in the community. He went on to recognize Sonia Hinosa, Lydia Villegas, Frances Vasquez, Dr. Doug Dinwiddie and Dr. Steven Fox. Turrieta added a thank you to his wife for coming and Al Gamboa, past president of the museum society. He continued with compliments of the town and spoke to all the community has.

Andy Paine came to speak about the citizen advisory board. He had come to show support for the notice of intent to vote on the ordinance that would establish the board. He believed the more communication and transparency between any government and the public the better. It would be a step of improvement. If the department has truly been trying to do their job, they should welcome advice and suggestions from the people they serve.

Janet Wallet-Ortiz came to speak about the advisory board, she wanted to give her full support to the ordinance and emphasized advisory. The board will not have the capacity to set policy. Chief Portillo had already said to the Silver City Daily Press that he would work with the board if the community wanted it. "I would say in regard to the efforts at recruitment for police positions as a taxpayer and community member I would not approve of hiring anyone who would not be willing to work with a citizen's advisory board. As far as them threating to quit, what are they afraid of? They are police officers, right? Why would they be afraid of community members that are simply there to advise and help support." She especially liked the board would include a mental health professional, two social workers and a person with a background in education. She pointed out they would not be graduates of the police academy. "Not everything is just about the police academy. It is about what happens day to day in the community." These board members have not just had a yearly training but have studied these issues. She said they have citizens advisory boards across the country, and it should be a welcome addition.

Ortiz said Silver City had suffered too many bad decisions from officials that could have been avoided with an advisory board. "I take issue at what Bencomo said at opening statement about what happened to Nikki Bascom and stressed using her name. Although we can't see in hindsight if an advisory board would have prevented it. We can say her pleas to the police department at the time for help and support that were ignored might not have been. Even though the threats were ignored by Captain Contreras and other officers at the time." The lawsuit cost the town $10 million. She thought if Bascom had been able to file a complaint with an advisory board it might have made a difference.

Dennis Nenzo came to speak about the recent fires in California. Many people of the community have friends and family there. He wanted to come together with Fire Chief Milo Lambert and see what the community has done and can do in light of the shortcomings of being able to fight a fire like in Los Angeles. It would have to do with the water department, reserve water, tankers and other things that could be done to ensure the community could fight a large fire.

Michael Larimore came to speak on the citizen advisory board. He has been a fourth generation Silver City, Grant County resident. While the proposed advisory board has some good ideas such as obtaining input from teachers, social workers and mental health workers and also tackling the problem of homelessness and behavioral health needs, some areas of the ordinance have some problems. As currently written, he believed the advisory board would be counterproductive. He read from the ordinance and cited pages and passages. One had the requirement of a quarterly data on complaints and the departments disciplinary actions. It speaks to discussing those actions to the community members. It also goes on to say if the discipline has not been satisfactory to the board the city manager and city attorney would be contacted.

The board's recommendations should be considered meaningful but not binding. As written, it appears the board would be an avenue to discipline the police and undermine the authority and responsibility of the police chief. Also mentioned in the ordinance that the board should have information on the union negotiations.

The responsibility and purpose of the advisory board should be to enhance community understanding, engagement and foster proactive communication and cooperation between the department and citizens.

Michael Larimore continued that to have an effective advisory board the members need to have a strong understanding of the daily functions, responsibilities and challenges that the law enforcement officers face each day. Without the advisory board the mayor and town council can still recommend measurable and objective goals for the police chief to accomplish while continuing to communicate all the community concerns to the police chief. "Fostering communication with the public without fueling the fire is my recommendation." The officers' body cam videos have been reviewed frequently by police administration for performance improvement, compliance opportunities, misconduct and police adherence.

According to the world population review and USA Today, New Mexico has the second highest crime rate in the nation. KRQE news said New Mexico has been rated 50th in the worst state to raise a family. Michael Larimore asked the council to hold off on voting for the ordinance now and continue to improve upon the work they have already been doing with positive communication between the community and police department. He further had the option that with the way the ordinance has currently been written it would affect police officer retention and recruitment in a negative manner.

Michael Larimore pointed out that the job of city government is to do the greatest good for the greatest number and micromanaging a small police department when crime has been at an all time high would not be proactive. Right now, the greatest good would be to advocate with the police department for crime prevention strategies and engage the community to help. "If you see something, say something. If you see an officer in need, help them and tell your young people to thank officers for putting their lives on the line and choosing to be available to protect us while we sleep."

Every year at the first council meeting they reorganize the council. They vote on the mayor pro tem and make appointments to committees and boards.

The council approved Guadalupe Cano for mayor pro tem.

Bencomo nominated her, and Snider seconded. Prince nominated Bencomo and Snider seconded. He said he had nominated Bencomo because of the upcoming elections for both the seat of mayor, his seat and Guadalupe Cano's. "I do not wish for any of the seats up for election up for mayor pro tem to be able to not give any endorsement of the council before we have a public election towards that and then due to tie and tenure her on the council." By nominating Bencomo he felt they could have an impartial election.

Guadalupe Cano had a comment. She said it had never been the policy. If someone qualifies to serve as mayor pro tem and the council feels that person can do the job, then they may vote for it. As a point of parliamentary procedure if a person has been nominated and they do not wish to take that position they may decline. Bencomo said he wanted to decline the nomination.

Ladner asked for a motion to close nominations, and it was a split. Guadalupe Cano and Bencomo voted yes, and Prince and Snider voted no. Ladner broke the tie with a yes.

For the vote of Guadalupe Cano for mayor pro tem all voted yes except Prince.

Guadalupe Cano had been mayor pro tem in 2024 and had to fill in a few times. "I have appreciated serving as mayor pro tem. I appreciate the opportunity to continue to learn from the mayor so that I may run for mayor. I have not decided." Ladner said she had done a great job acting as mayor pro tem during the past year and thanked her.

Many of the council committees and boards would remain the same. Ladner went over all of them and listed who would be serving.

The next item on the agenda would be the mayor's appointment to the historic review and design committee. Ladner said since this involved his wife who had been on the committee for many years, he had asked Guadalupe Cano to conduct this part of the agenda. The council had an application from Rebecca Smith Ladner to be on the historic review and design committee. She asked if anyone on the council had any questions. Snider said he wanted to make a comment. He had the opportunity to work with the applicant on projects downtown and she had very good input that had improved the projects and had good leads on obtaining information. Everyone agreed to the reappointment.

The council approved the reappointment of Susan Moody to the planning and zoning commission. The chair of the commission had strongly supported her application. She had attended for any questions. Prince wanted her to raise her hand, so he knew who she was. Bencomo asked her what the PEO stood for that appeared on her application. She said it stood for an educational organization supporting women in need of a scholarship.

The council approved a public celebration permit for Little Toad Creek LLC. This permit would be for the Territorial Charter Ball to be held at the Murray Hotel February 15, 2025. Guadalupe Cano questioned the access ramp and Fire Chief Milo Lambert said it would be in complete compliance.

Three people from Sunny 505 Marketing Services attended to provide a presentation to the council for the marketing services they would be providing to the town. Joanie Griffin, founding principal, had come with Dave Hayduk, senior strategist, and Julie Enos, local representative. Enos handles the social media and visiting media. Griffin had a PowerPoint presentation and said they had been awarded the contract through November 1, 2025, to do the tourism marketing. They had come to show the council the plans for the year. Griffin said that they remain strong with the state tourism campaign, New Mexico True. For many years the state has worked on a dollar for dollar match on advertising. During covid they changed it to a two to one match. They have continued to renew that, but Griffin did not know if it would continue.

Currently the New Mexico True campaign has been done in several airports. Currently the ads can be seen in Denver and Dallas and with the extra money they had been able to expand to Seattle and San Francisco. Their primary focus has been on flying markets. Now they will begin to focus on the drive market.

Originally when Silver City started working with them the business name had been Griffin and Associates, but they rebranded in 2019 to Sunny 505. Griffin said they have been the largest full service communications firm in New Mexico.

The agency has been certified New Mexico True and have been working with them since the campaign rolled out in 20212. The primary markets, based on their data have been Tucson, El Paso and Las Cruces. After those would come Albuquerque. They reach out nationally through social media efforts. The focus with all the ads has been on historic downtown, the arts, and outdoor adventure. The firm also works with Grant County and have been able to not duplicate their efforts. They continued to go over their plan and what they had been doing on Instagram and their plan to pay influencers come in and post about their experiences in Silver City. It makes the experience far more authentic.

Enos continued with all they would do and have been doing with social media. As a former tourism director, she knew the town well and has a lot of connections. She spoke to the influencers they would be bringing to town to promote and would expand the visibility exponentially. She continued with how they would be using social media and YouTube ads, which had become the second largest search engine behind Google.

They spoke to the print advertising and articles that they would be doing. One of them would be the True Adventure Guide that prints 600,000 copies and distributes to New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona and southern California. Griffin said they will also be doing billboard ads. New stories will be pitched to the national media every month. She provided a list of all the print ads they would be doing. She continued with numerous avenues of advertising they would be using.

Guadalupe Cano had both questions and comments when they had finished. She had reviewed the sample ads, and all of the disabled people didn't show their faces. "They have faces also." She asked that when they did ads to show the people's faces. By not showing disabled people's faces it says Silver City doesn't care about disabled people." She asked how often they changed the photos for the ads because one of the ads showed children in the area she knew were in high school now. Seeing the same ad every single time becomes monotonous. "We are paying for the ads so it should not be the same one for twenty years." She asked that they use people from Silver City in their ads and especially ethnic people.

The next thing she wanted to address has been when articles have been written about local events, they always name the same businesses. She had been approached by some of the business that would love to be part of those articles. Although she likes Little Toad Creek they always seem to be highlighted. She asked the process of how they picked the businesses that would be named and highlighted. Griffin said they don't write the articles about the businesses. They do press releases about the events and the news people go out and find the businesses. "We don't promote the local businesses; we promote the area." Griffin suggested in the new website they could highlight more of the local businesses

Guadalupe Cano asked her if they had any input in those articles. Griffin said no. At that point she asked if they could do anything about it because it really looks bad that ethnically owned businesses downtown are never highlighted. The town has more than one culture and they would like to be highlighted also.

Bencomo wanted to know how big the print ads would be, and Griffin said typically they would be full page.

The council approved resolution no. 2025-1 pertaining to open meetings. This just addressed the time and dates of meetings and had to be done each year.

The council approved resolution no. 2025-2. This resolution would be for an employee recognition program. It had been initiated by Lambert. The program will be done on a monthly and yearly basis. He and Brown had come together and felt it important to show gratitude to the employees. Employee of the month would receive a $200 bonus, certificate and additional day of leave. A picture would be placed on the department billboards on the town website. Also, a press release would be sent to the Silver City Daily Press, and they will be recognized at the council meeting. The employee of the year would receive a $1,000 bonus and all of the recognition of the monthly winner.

Guadalupe Cano said, "I am really glad you worked this out, but I would like to ask that it also be put in the Grant County Beat also." She wanted to know if a resident could nominate an employee that did a great job. Brown said the nominations will be done through the department heads at department head meetings. The nominations will be done through recognition from the department heads, letters, emails or the website. The public has been encouraged to make nominations to the department heads in one of the previous mentioned manners. Bencomo said, "I am glad to see this getting done." He thanked Lambert for initiating it.

The council, except Prince approved ordinance 1334. This ordinance amends a previous ordinance by adding bicycles, skates and scooters and not allowing their use on sidewalks. Guadalupe Cano said it would make it illegal to be riding wheeled devices downtown but does not affect the use of medical devices in any way. This will be important to protect people from being run down on sidewalks and make pedestrians safer. Prince said he had been a skateboarder growing up and recognized the importance of skateboarding culture towards contributing to so many different arts and cultural events in the community. They require the use of being able to access rails and curbs. As a skateboarder one of the first political movements, he had been part of had been "skateboarding is not a crime" movement. Prince had made a motion to strike all and any references to skateboards. No one would second the motion and it died.

Guadalupe Cano said the town has venues where skateboards can be used. It didn't say no skateboards all over town, just downtown on the sidewalks.

The next thing on the agenda had to do with the intent to adopt an ordinance to add a citizen's advisory board for the police department. Snider went over the ordinance. It would be an eight person board and have a one year trial period. It had been developed by the Citizens for Safety and Community committee. The group had done extensive research for the past four years. "The end product is an excellent ordinance." He insisted that they support the police department and thank them for their service. The eight people on the board would consist of mental health professionals, social workers, educators and community professionals. It would provide a third party to bring concerns of the citizens to the police department. Findings would be sent to the advisory board. It can be another tool of the police department.

Guadalupe Cano said she had met with Bookwalter and Cressler several times. She had been very impressed with the work they and the rest of the group had done however she had a problem with some of the language and wanted a work session. For that reason, she hoped the fellow council members would agree to postpone voting until a work session had been done. Having a work session would be important to have a dialogue between themselves, Cressler, Bookwalter, Steven Larimore and any interested party.

Snider felt they needed to pass the ordinance but if they did a work session it should be done right away. He didn't' feel they could make any more improvements and with the trial period they could make changes later. Prince said this would just be an intent and they had a process for review. Guadalupe Cano pointed out that if they made changes, they would have to do another notice of intent. Jim Reynolds, town attorney, said if any changes would be made after they approve this it would have to start all over again with a new notice of intent. Guadalupe Cano said if the ordinance as is comes up for vote she would have to vote no. Snider asked what they could change now, and she said it would take for a very long meeting to make those changes which is why she had suggested a work session.

Bencomo felt more input would be good and they should postpone. It would give the opportunity for the community to speak. Prince said he still doesn't understand the review process and feels the ordinance to be substantial enough at this point but if changes needed to be made it could be done later.

Guadalupe Cano made a motion to postpone the ordinance until a work session could be held. Bencomo seconded. Ladner said he had a few comments. He read from something in a previous meeting that made a distinction between oversight and advisory. He said he agreed with the concept of an advisory board but as he has read the ordinance it doesn't sound that much like an advisory board and agreed it need to be talked about more but needed to be done soon. He didn't want to see a split vote although he said he didn't mind breaking a tie but would like to see the council work together on the issues.

The council approved postponing the intent to adopt the ordinance for the citizen's advisory board. Prince abstained from the vote.

The council approved the cancelation of the next meeting January 28, 2025, because they would be in Santa Fe for the legislature and Grant County Days.

The council went into closed session.

The council came back into open session and said no action had taken place.

Meeting adjourned