By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a work session and regular meeting October 28, 2025. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ken Ladner, Mayor Pro Tem Guadalupe Cano, Nicholas Prince, Rudy Bencomo and Stan Snider.

The council started with a work session to discuss rules of procedures for governing bodies. Snider had provided a template and said he had obtained it from the Municipal League. He thought the first thing they needed to do would be to use it or go to the Roberts Rules of Order

Ladner had brought the latest copy of the Roberts Rules of Order, and it has 700 pages. “I don’t know if you have delved into it or not but my way of thinking it’s much more information than we need.” They need something that will fit the needs of the council.

Prince’s initial impression had been the procedures of governing bodies feels like a good solid framework. Some other municipalities had expanded on them. “I would argue that that level of detail in the living document we can work on and amend the framework from the Municipal League for the rules of procedure for governing bodies addresses most all of my concerns, except for I need a little bit of clarity on consent calendar for what the process is for elected officials to have items added to the agenda. I can understand if there are concerns that come up through legal review, where a counselor might want to have an agenda item that would cause conflict or get the city in hot water.” If proposed in a meeting to be put on the agenda in the future, will it be even if it will be a contentious issue? However, town management and legal counsel declines to add it on. “What will be the process to bring that forward?”

Cano said first thing that came to mind if a lawyer tells a council member, they should not discuss that in public there would be a reason. “We don’t want to put it on the agenda after we have been told specifically by legal not to.” It might need to be discussed in executive session or something town management should address. The town has legal counsel for a reason.

Snider didn’t follow where they would insert that in the document. Prince told him what page to look on and read it. They discussed adding or taking away some of that language.

Cano asked the council if they had observed other council meetings that use a Consent Agenda. It had worked well for other councils. Snider asked Cano what a Consent Agenda was. Cano said it would be things that they have all the time such as minutes.

Ladner asked the council if they had anything that they didn’t like about the way the agenda has been done.

Bencomo asked Snider why he has proposed this. “Help me understand why.” He said it had been brought to his attention that the council didn’t have any rules of procedure and in the past, they had defaulted to Roberts Rules of Order. It had never been made official.

Bencomo understood from what Snider said it would be because they don’t have anything in place. “In all my years that I've attended council meetings or had to when I was an employee with the Town of Silver City, having to come and make some presentations to the council and mayor at the time, and even watching council meetings at home or in the audience, I've never seen, a reason for this.” Some confusion has happened, but everyone worked together. He thought it would be used to criticize other council members for not understanding or being misunderstood. It the past council members had been cordial to one another. “I am a simple guy and are we going to have to stop to refer to a 700-page book whenever there is an issue?”

Ladner had concerns over using the document from the Municipal Legue. He cited a section pertaining to 6.23, incidental main motions corresponding to incidental motions. Counterparts of some of the incidental motions may occur as incidental main motions.

For example, a standing rule can be suspended for the duration of a session and a motion for such suppression made where no business  pending is an incidental main motion. Similarly, a motion prescribing how nominations shall be made is an incidental main motion if it is moved while no election is pending. “See, I just don't think we want to get involved in that kind of language.”

Cano liked the template because of a part that said any matter not covered by these rules shall be governed by the decision of the presiding officer applying Roberts Rules of Order.

Prince said governing bodies and differences of opinions can be challenging and when people have hard beliefs or have ultimatums, having a deliberative process in place so that opinions and ideas, all of them have a chance to have their time. He checked with the Community Foundation today and they operate by Robert's Rules of Order. They also offer workshops that they will be having in the new year for nonprofit groups to also be able to handle their board discussions. “I believe in the most common form of parliamentary procedure across all bodies.”

Bencomo had reviewed the copies provided to the council for Rio Rancho, Red River and Corrales. They had seemed straight and to the point.

Cano wanted to discuss adding something to the current template that Snider provided. She wanted public decorum included. It will be important because of the recent public outbursts and they need a framework on how to deal with that. Snider had looked at the section in Rio Rancho that Cano spoke to. He had ideas on what could be included.

Ladner said this would be a good starting point. “I've been to a lot of council meetings too, and I think to me the main thing about council meetings is that you have a council that works together. No one has a hidden agenda that they want to spring on the council during the council meeting. If there's an amendment, everybody knows what the amendment is going to be before the council meeting. We all get these agendas several days before the meeting.” That will be plenty time to study it and make an amendment.

Prince said it would disturb the public process that he has committed to. Snider said that during debate things can come to light and an amendment would need to be done then. This part of the discussion went on for some time and came back to the decorum part of the rules. Cano read, “While the governing body is in session, no person shall disturb or cause a breach of peace pursuant to municipal code section 131-05, disturbing the peace or delaying or interrupting the proceedings of the governing body. Number three, electronic devices shall be kept on silent mode during the meeting. Number four, no signage, banners, posters, or props shall be held or displayed in the governing body chambers, overflow room or the room where the meeting is occurring, if elsewhere in the manner that blocks the view of others or creates a distraction from the business of the governing body. Number five, the director of the department of public safety, the police, or their designee shall serve as a sergeant at arms. Number six, the director of the department of fire and rescue or their designee shall enforce the room capacity ingress or regress of the room where the governing body is occurring.”

The council discussed the free speech aspect of the rules with Charles Kretek, town attorney, adding in what would be considered free speech and what would not.

Ladner reflected back on the July 29, 2025, council meeting that turned into chaos. “We learned a lot in that meeting, because we've never had that before, and in almost 10 years that I've been mayor, that has never happened. The 10 years that I've been mayor, we've never had a confusion, except for this last couple of years, on the town council with issues, because we've all worked together, we've all respected each other's opinion, and we've tried to accommodate each other. For example, do you know that none of you should be talking without being recognized by the chair? This goes for the council members, but it goes for members of the administration and everybody else. You first get recognized and then you can speak, and you don't interrupt anyone while they're speaking. The presiding officer has the authority to do that. I've been a little lax on that because for the past eight years we haven't had to have a firm set of rules that specifies every step of the way.”

Ladner asked Snider where he had found all this information. Snider said he had received it from Simon Wheaton-Smith, and he spoke to Rebecca Martinez at the Municipal League, and she has been the parliamentarian. Martinez said they wanted to keep it simple. Snider and Prince thought this would be a good starting point. Prince suggested emailing Snider with proposals on changes and additions. Cano pointed out that could be a rolling quorum, and it would be better to email the town clerk and not violate the Open Meetings Act.

Work session ended and the regular meeting started.

Council comments

Cano said she had attended the No Kings rally and protest, and she thanked the Silver City police department. In the past she has been critical of the department and how they handled events because they would group up sometimes. This time they had done an excellent job interacting with the public and she saw them talking to them and smiling. She cautioned everyone to be careful of the kids running around the street for Halloween.

Bencomo thanked a representative from AmberCare that made a presentation to the senior center. She had covered a lot of the services they provide and answered questions. She had been very helpful, and he had some question because of the family members. He had noticed a lot of fire hydrants had been painted and people had asked him why. The fire department has to test the hydrants to see how efficient the water pressure would be at each one. They color code the tops to signify the number of gallons per minute a hydrant puts out.

Snider said district three had a couple of great improvements. He had seen a new mural on the Hub building in the back. The second one would be the Noble Park on F Street and Market Street. New playground equipment had been installed. He thanked everyone involved. He also reminded everyone to vote.

Prince had taken a hike down from the Virgina Street Park to the Big Ditch Park. Many improvements had been made. Although it has not been completely finished it still would be worth checking it out. “What is going to happen in our communities for SNAP and food distribution? I think 21 percent of New Mexico’s population might not see those funds.” He encouraged people to watch the news for the presentation from the governor and see what they could do.

The council approved the minutes from October 14, 2025, meeting.

Public input

Jeff Goin said it has been his personal philosophy that all the difficulties that individuals and communities experience result from disconnection. Disconnection gives rise to apathy, ignorance and indifference. He felt it very relevant in regard to the unhoused in Silver City. It has become an "us and them" mentality. “These are members of our community just as important as any other community. I think that their needs must be addressed. I would appeal to you to consider their needs and address them.” He had been told that Las Cruces has a very progressive approach to the homeless situation. It has a multitiered level of support and the municipality funds the program. “I was very disappointed to hear Silver City does not provide similar funding.”

John MacMurray had come to address the problem with coal-rolling. He had been with a group of people on the side of the street in front of Watts Hall. They had been holding flags showing their disapproval of the Trump administration and a No Kings rally. Many drivers ignored them, some honked and some waved their middle finger. He expected all that but not the few drivers that pulled the stunt known as rolling coal. He had taken videos and forwarded them to the police chief that he said had been very helpful. He commented that if people didn’t like their views to keep on driving or better yet stop and talk. “We are reasonable people. Maybe we can work together to make the community better.” He ended by saying this behavior had been malicious.

Gordon West came to speak on the land use code. “I am a local resident and recently started a building project.” He explained what he wanted to do, and it would be in the historic district. With the current code he could not do what he wanted but the new one he can. He appreciated all the effort that had gone into the changes.

Simon Wheaton-Smith came to speak on the land use code that would be before the council for approval in the meeting. He chairs the planning and zoning commission. He went over the documents the council had before them and some typographical errors that had been made.

Ladner said when they come to the land use code portion of the meeting, he would like to have public input and would be allowing three minutes per person.

Robin Kopit said he owns four properties in Silver City and will move here in January. He had been talking with Jacqui Olea, assistant town manager, and discussed one of his properties. It has one small house, and he would like to build three more. It is near the university and would be a good project. As the land use code reads right now, he could not do the project due to the requirements, mostly because of parking and would be too expensive to do. The changes to the land use code will allow the project to move forward. He asked the council to pass the changes.

Reports

Allyson Siwik of Southwest New Mexico Community Forest and Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP) had come to present the management plan they had for Silver City. This project will be a five-year, six communities plan to plant 1,000 trees. Two others involved in the project has also come Erik Geyer and Marivel Medel from Western New Mexico University.

Siwik had an update on what had been done in the past year and a plan for the future to present. The project takes a community to come together and collaborate and address community goals. It takes working with the municipal staff, state forestry, county people and Western New Mexico University. “We want to be training people.” They will be focusing on residential neighborhoods, revitalizing parks and elementary school landscapes. Another goal will be to look at the legacy trees, example Gough Park. This will take into consideration succession planting to replace the trees that die. The next goal will be to enhance public health and quality of life by including pedestrian walkways, bus stops, parking lots, etc. The full plan can be seen at Southwest New Mexico Community Forest Network.

Alex Brown, town manager, did not have anything to report currently.

New business

SPIN (support for people in need) had come to the council requesting $2,200 a month in support of the facility. Brown said it will be to supplement the shelter portion of the operation. He turned it over to Christine Castillo, director of SPIN. She had come to follow up on the request made previously and cited the statistics of the number of people served by the program. “I did submit a profit and loss statement and budget that reflects how we would use the support.”

Cano said she had read the letter, and it didn’t match the budget she had provided and asked Castillo to explain. She also pointed out that they didn’t show any monthly income from Medicare and Medicaid. She wanted to see the full income. Castillo went into an explanation of what it meant, why the difference and what would have to be cut. As far as income, she said they didn’t receive Medicare or Medicaid funding. They do receive it for billing on therapy.

Prince had the budget and asked some questions and addressed the security cameras. He also asked about the different costs and the number of employees. Castillo addressed the questions and added they would have to cut people's hours without the added support. Prince helped her answer some of the questions he had. “That's an incredible team that you've built at this point to be able to help with one of the most pressing and overheard concerns we've had in this community for years, So I just want to commend you and thank you so much for doing so.”

Cano had a statement that did not have anything to do with the budget. She did question that every time Castillo had come and asked for support she had been asked the same question. “Has anything being changed in the neighborhood? Have you reached out to the neighbors? Has there been any improvement in neighborhood relations?”

Castillo replied by saying she had visited a shelter in Albuquerque. They house 600 people a night. Her first question to them had been what they used on the floor and the other had to do with security. They had showed her some ideas to improve security at SPIN.

Cano pointed out, “Still haven't reached out to the neighborhood? We still haven't heard anything about you having any community relations where you discuss things with the neighbors who have been suffering for the last five years? There still hasn't been any movement there to talk to the neighbors. What have you done? Have you had a meeting?” Castillo said she had not had any formal meetings with the community.

Prince thanked Castillo for the 2023 and 2024 audits and commended her again for the work she had done with little support.

Brown said if the motion passed the town would enter into a 12-month contract with SPIN.

Prince made a motion to approve the $2,200 monthly support of SPIN and Snider seconded the motion.Prince and Snider voted yes and Cano and Bencomo voted no, and Ladner broke the tie with a no. Support for SPIN did not pass.

The council approved resolution 2025-32 to amend the land use and zoning code and update the title to land use and zoning code of 2025. Olea read the statement from the community development department. The currant code had last been adopted in 2010. It has been adjusted to better fit the town's goals and existing conditions. The 2025 strategic housing plan had been used in the process. The statement outlined the whole process they went through to come to these changes. The proposed amendment will not adversely affect the implementation of the goals and policies of the town's comprehensive plan. The proposed amendments will not adversely impact public health safety or general welfare and will promote the original purposes of the land use code. The proposed amendments respond to changes in conditions such as changes in assumptions on capital investments, road location, population trends, lands committed to development density and further studies that have been completed since the adoption of the land use code. The proposed amendment provides additional flexibility in meeting the objectives of the land use code without lowering the standards of the land use code.

Snider made a motion to amend the land use code to not allow cannabis businesses in the historic downtown area. This started a discussion of legalities. Snider said this would be due to making the area better for tourism. “There are plenty of other places they can have cannabis.” Prince had seconded the motion and referred to previous public concerns about the growing number of cannabis businesses. Kretek addressed the question of the legality of the proposed amendment. The local control provision says that a local jurisdiction may adopt time, place and manner rules that do not conflict with the act addressing density of licenses and operating times with neighborhood uses. It did not talk about treating it like alcohol or treating it like other businesses. It recognizes that it's a unique business. Bencomo wanted to know what would be considered the historic area and Olea said it would include Bullard Street, Broadway Street heading west. Sections of Texas, Arizona, 7th Street, 6th Street, Kelly Street, Yankie Street (portions). “I believe it's the first two blocks of each road that is heading westerly and then it is the entirety of Bullard Street, a section of College Avenue going to Pope Street and then Pope Street up until just before W&M Communications.” It kind of runs in line with the Arroyo right by Pope Street Park. Also, a portion of the Chihuahua Hill would be in the historic district. The amendment passed unanimously.

Cano made a motion to amend the first motion to include the amended summary to include No. 1 revised definition of majority with the change from 50% to half; No. 2 accessory dwelling unit clarification; No. 3.P&Z Commissioner outside municipal limits; No. 4 r neighborhoods Door typo; No. 5 cannabis buffer distance 300 feet;  No. 6 cannabis use district allowances; No. 7 n carport encroachment into setback; nNo. 8 aligning reference to dimensional adjustment and No. 9 remove references to  PUD process. All voted yes except Bencomo.

Cano thanked the planning and zoning commission for all their work on the changes. Prince followed up with comments on challenges with a house the town had seen and how this would help. Snider thought this would help also.

Kretek interjected that they needed to ratify the motion to approve the document as presented so the council went through that process.

The council approved the sanitation rate increase after Brown’s statement. At the last council meeting he had told the council they would be close to having their final numbers on sanitation costs. They had implemented new software and had just recently been able to combine all the information needed for the assessment of costs. Even at the last meeting, he knew the sanitation fund would not be in the black, he just didn’t know how much. During the time of the transition of software he had the meter readers audit the trash cans people had picked up. The audit did not result in very many additional containers being billed for. As a result, they will have to raise sanitation rates by 12 percent. As of the day before the sanitation fund will be $340,000 in the red. This increase will have them caught up. The biggest issue across the budget has been inflation. The landfill had increased rates by 25 percent. Universal Waste, who does the garbage pickup had a 3.2 percent CPI (consumer price index) increase.

Brown went on to explain how inflation would be affecting the whole budget.

Prince wanted more information and who had been responsible for the increase at the landfill. The conversation went on between he and Brown for a while. At the end Brown said the longer they waited the more they would have to charge to cover expenses. Brown wanted the increase to be effective November 1, 2025.

Bencomo spoke to the calls he had received about the garbage pickup service and the problems people had with them. Snider wanted to put if off until the next meeting to compile more information. Bencomo asked how much that would add to the deficit if they waited until the next meeting. Brown said it would increase to about $400,000

Meeting adjourned