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ROAD ADVISORY

CLOSURE– Silver City/Hurley Area

US 180 eastbound and westbound lanes are closed at milepost 125 due to a gas line break. Detour is in Hurley at Carraszo St, Diaz Rd and N Hurley Road. Motorists are asked to reduce speed, obey posted signs, and watch for emergency personnel, and equipment. Please expect delays. 

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a regular meeting February 11, 2025. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ken Ladner, Mayor Pro Tem Guadalupe Cano, Nicholas Prince, Rudy Bencomo and Stan Snider.

Ceremonies

Employee of the month

The council had passed a resolution to begin a recognition program for exemplary employees of the town. Fire Chief Milo Lambert said all the departments had held department head meetings. They had nominated Vicki Toney, code enforcement officer, as the employee of the month. Lambert continued with the reasons why she had been chosen. Her job as a code enforcement officer consistently puts her in possible negative situations. She always finds ways to preform her routine duties with professionalism and compassion. As issues arise outside of code enforcement, she continually takes steps to improve the city process to fix ordinances to make them enforceable. Toney maintains fairness while interfacing with the public even in situations that could be negative.

[Editor's Note: This is part one of a multi- part series of articles on almost six hours of Grant County Commission meetings on Feb. 11 and 13, 2025)

By Mary Alice Murphy

Public input at the Grant County Commission work session on Feb. 11, 2025, began with a report from Melissa Green, representing the Gila Back Country Horsemen.

"I just wanted to take a minute to share with you what Gila Back Country Horsemen have been doing to improve the outdoor recreation economy in our county," Green said.

She explained the mission of the group is to ensure continued reasonable use of packing-style stock on public lands and to keep forest trails open for all. "We lead and participate in trail maintenance. We also try to help disperse use and keep solitude high, by maintaining trails in multiple areas throughout the National Forest. Our main projects are March to May and August to October, ranging from one- or two-day projects to pack-in trips for several days."

Article by Mary Alice Murphy Photos by Lynn Janes

Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce Director Romeo Cruz introduced the speakers of the day, the newly elected commissioners, then thanked the county for supporting the chamber's work at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center.

District 3 Commissioner Nancy Stephens spoke first. "It's really a privilege to have been voted into this position. I just want to tell you a bit about myself and some of my values. I grew up in rural Indiana, raised by two public school teachers. My dad taught art and my mom taught science. I always thought it was a good balance. We lived out in the country, and our home was surrounded by corn fields. Most of our neighbors were farmers, and my first job was detasseling corn, and I remember crying with blisters and sunburn. My dad said: 'You're not a quitter.' So, I didn't quit.

[Editor's Note: The Beat only briefly covered Love Local in downtown Silver City on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, due to late notice  and very little advertising in the Beat.]

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

About 31 businesses participated in the Love Local event offering discounts, drawings, free items, and other goodies to customers visiting their shops. 

Morning Star owners Rocky and Lynn Mondello are surrounded by family members and helpers, Jordan Carrasco, Fran Mondello, Amanda Milano, Chloe Holguin and Jenny Clodfelter ( not necessarily in that order). They helped customers during the 33rd anniversary sale. 

By Lynn Janes

The town of Hurley had been set to have a regular meeting February 11, 2025. Only Mayor Ed Stevens, and Pete Ordonez had attended so a quorum could not be met. Mayor Pro Tem Reynaldo Maynes had been held up and councilors Nanette Day and Keana Huerta had resigned.

Stevens read the resignation letters. Huerta cited school and responsibilities as a reason she could not continue. Day said she had been hired for a job that did not allow for any government pay so she could not continue on the council.

By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held a special meeting February 6, 2025. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Pro Tem Eloy Medina, councilors, Frances Gonzales, Eloy Gonzales and Gilbert Ortiz. Martha Salas, city clerk, also attended.

Ordinances and resolutions

The council unanimously  approved ordinance 1-2025 authorizing the execution and delivery of a taxable loan agreement and intercept agreement between the city of Bayard and the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA).

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a work session meeting February 3, 2025. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ken Ladner, Mayor Pro Tem Guadalupe Cano, Nicholas Prince, Rudy Bencomo and Stan Snider.

They started the meeting out with public input on the proposed notice of intent to adopt an ordinance for the citizens' advisory board. Ladner let them know they each had three minutes to make their statement. He asked them to make the comments brief and to the point.

Police Chief Freddie Portillo spoke to the council and thanked them for the opportunity to speak. He reminded the community the police work for them and having a good working relationship and gathering community input would be invaluable. "The community does and always will come first. However, I do not support this notice of intent." The community as a whole provides oversight.