Las Cruces City Council Meeting – September 2, 2025: Awards, Public Comment, and Ordinance Approvals
Las Cruces City Council Meeting – September 2, 2025
The meeting began at 1:00 PM with Mayor Eric Enriquez. Presentations included NATOA awards, jobs of the week, and pets of the week. Public comment covered lead/copper compliance, spay/neuter program, aquatic center closure, opposition to Project Jupiter data center, crime concerns, and more. Council approved a liquor license transfer, a CPACE resolution (one opposed), and an ordinance updating weed definitions.
Presentations and Reports
- NATOA Government Programming Awards: Mandy Leatherwood (Communications Director) announced the City of Las Cruces won three awards of excellence, three of distinction, and one honorable mention. She showed videos on lead/copper education ("What's My Line Made Of") and a recruitment video featuring City Manager Ikani Tumpiao.
- Jobs of the Week: Sarah Rainey (One-Stop Coordinator) listed positions including City of Las Cruces library page ($15.02/hr), accounts receivable representative ($15.57/hr), White Sands Missile Range quality control analyst ($38.55–$48.55/hr), and others.
- Pets of the Week: Carol (Animal Services) introduced dog Coral (89047) and noted one cat adopted. She highlighted long-term residents: Boxer (247 days), Cosette (239 days), Cookies and Cream (229 days). Councilor Corin offered to sponsor adoptions and shared positive experiences with shelter dogs.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Lynn Moore: Presented handouts alleging city non-compliance with EPA lead/copper rule. Claimed the city has not notified new customers of pipe material, lacks evidence for one-third of characterization, omitted mobile home parks, and uses non-evidence-based techniques. She accused staff of bias against finding lead pipes and called for impartial assessment.
- Lavon Hart (SNAP Director): Reported 595 spay/neuter surgeries, 293 rabies vaccinations, and 272 microchips in FY2024-25, a 35% increase in vouchers. Noted a 100% increase in requests at the start of FY2025-26. Asked for volunteers and board members.
- Frankie Lawrence, Mary Ellen Boberg, Bob Hauck (senior citizens): Expressed frustration about the activity pool at Las Cruces Aquatic Center being inoperable for 1.5–2 months due to electrical and pump issues. Asked for prompt repairs. Interim Assistant City Manager David Sevillo confirmed the issue and said staff are working on two options (rebuilding old pump or modifying spare), with an estimated 2–3 week timeline.
- Lucas Herndon (District 2): Opposed the Donana County Commission’s approval of Project Jupiter, a $165 billion data center by a Texas tech company. Cited risks to groundwater, energy loopholes, and insufficient community engagement (only three weeks). Asked the city to use its influence with the county.
- Lindley Hornsby (District 4): Opposed Project Jupiter, urged council to protect water and air, and advised against adopting a boom-and-bust industry. Also commented on GRT spending for vulnerable communities.
- Juan Garcia: Expressed concerns about rising juvenile crime, drive-by shootings, drug use, and the Young Park massacre. Warned against political violence and urged respect for opposing views. He criticized protesters who disrupt events and elected officials who make irresponsible comments.
- Jay Chote (District 5): Supported peaceful protest as free speech; opposed Project Jupiter due to water use and pollution concerns. Called for more public engagement outside working hours and better public transportation.
- Lonnie Montgomery: Prayed for better skills for council; criticized elected officials on transgender issues, debt, and education. Called for decency and ended his "riff raff report."
- William Moreland: Opposed Project Jupiter, asked council to stand up for smaller municipalities, and noted lack of shade at bus stops.
- Unnamed speaker (later identified as part of public): Spoke in favor of Project Jupiter, arguing it would bring infrastructure and jobs, and cautioned against presuming corruption. He supported economic development.
- Donna Stryker: Reported on the Courts, Crime and Justice legislative committee meeting at NMSU. Praised LCPD’s presentation on youth crime as “disturbing” and urged council to watch the video. Criticized a senior senator for disrespecting council and blamed the community. She asked for more collaboration.
- Tim Jenkins: Seconded concerns about crime; questioned spending $11 million on homeless and $10 million on an abortion clinic when mental health needs attention.
- Spanish-speaking speaker: Urged council to encourage county to stop Project Jupiter.
- Diana Albusolar (New Mexico Local News Fund): Introduced the Documenters project to train citizens to document public meetings. Sought feedback and provided contact information.
Discussion Items
Item 7.1 – Liquor License Transfer (Ruby Tuesdays)
- Public hearing opened at 2:09 PM; no speakers. Motion to approve Resolution 26-033 passed unanimously (6-0, Councilor Flores absent). The license (DIS 001199) transfers ownership at 2611 N. Tel Shore Blvd.
Item 7.2 – Resolution 26-034 (CPACE Program)
- Isaac Colgeen and Eric Christensen (Adelante Consulting) presented CPACE financing for commercial property upgrades (lighting, HVAC, microgrids, etc.). It is funded by capital providers, not public funds. Councilor Matisse asked about lien holder consent; it requires consent from all existing lien holders. Motion passed 6-1, with Councilor Matisse voting no.
Item 7.3 – Ordinance 3095 (Weed/Nuisance Ordinance)
- Brad Douglas (Legal) and Michael Roach (Codes Enforcement) proposed revisions to Chapter 18 to add specific definitions of invasive weeds and address constitutional concerns from municipal court. Enforcement will focus on enumerated species. Councilor Corin urged neighborly communication rather than reporting code violations. Councilor McClure suggested an education campaign. Diane Starbuck spoke in favor. Unanimously approved (6-0).
Key Outcomes
- Approved Resolution 26-033: Transfer of liquor license for Ruby Tuesdays.
- Approved Resolution 26-034: Adoption of CPACE program (6-1).
- Approved Ordinance 3095: Replacing and repealing Chapter 18 nuisance sections regarding weeds.
- No board appointments.
- Council members expressed support for housing initiatives (state $11 million investment), appreciation for police, fire, and communications departments, and concerns about Project Jupiter.
- City Manager Ikani Tumpiao announced: Aquatic Center pool repair estimated 2–3 weeks; new playground at Valley View Park; housing press conference on September 3 at 1 PM; OIR Group police auditor report on September 8; salsa dancing event on September 4 at Plaza de las Cruces.
- Utilities Director Adrian Woodmer responded to public comments on lead/copper: real-time map not required (annual updates); IPRA request for list would require creating a record; customer water testing not required until November 2027; mobile home parks served by master meters will be evaluated by installation year.
Meeting Transcript
You're live. Good afternoon. Welcome to the city council meeting. Today is Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025. It's approximately one PM. I'm Mayor Eric Enriquez. Before we start, I want to mention that we have the ASL American Sign Language available for interpretation up in the front. We will start with a moment of silence for the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces and for our local Las Cruces Police and Fire Department that keep our city safe twenty-four seven three sixty-five. If you join us in the pledge, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and liberty and justice for all. We are this close in the world from eradicating polio, and we just need a little bit more to get over that hump. So thank you all very much for being here. Thank you for this proclamation. Okay, next we'll have Mandy Leatherwood uh doing a presentation on the government programming award. Yes. Right. Thank you, Mayor and Council. I'm really excited uh to be here today. I have some good news for you. Uh I'm Mandy Leatherwood, I'm the communications director, and I want to talk to you about the Natoa Government Programming Awards. Uh, what is NATOA? It is the National Association of Telecom Officers and Advisors. If you don't remember it, it's okay. I have to look it up every year. Um, we're really excited because just two weeks ago we had the government programming awards and the City of Las Cruces took home several awards. And so I wanted to share with you on the slide a photo of Adrian Guzman and Nathaniel Bidding. They are the team, they're not out here with me right now because they're in the back actually doing the work of running uh this council meeting and televising it live. Um, some of the things that are really exciting about the government programming awards, it recognizes excellence by local governments nationwide, and all of the submissions are peer-reviewed and judged. And so, what that means is the people looking at these and judging them and scoring them are also local governments, and I think that that's really important because so often um we're competing with things that are um trying to sell a product, but really the work that we do in the communications office is more educational and informative, and knowing that other government professionals are recognizing the quality work that we do, understanding the challenges we deal with. Um, I'm just really proud of the fact that we came out on top. Uh, we had several awards, we had three awards of excellence, those mean that we won in those categories, three awards of distinction, which means that we were in the top tier, but somebody edged us out. Um, and then one honorable mention. And so um, I really thank you for the opportunity to share a couple of the award-winning videos. And so the first one that we won for, um, I'm actually really proud of this one. It was what's my line made of, and it was part of the lead and copper education. I know that there has been a lot of misinformation in our community about us not uh communicating well, and I just want to let you know that we're being recognized nationally for doing such a great job. And I'm gonna read actually some of the comments from the judges. These aren't what I've said, this is what others have said about us. Uh the speaker was extremely knowledgeable in the subject, and that was enforced by how he performed the examination himself. The information and visuals are conveyed well for someone such as myself who has no knowledge in this field. This is informative and compelling. It was clear and concise all the way through. And so I'm going to take a moment to actually show you this video. Good morning, Las Cruces. My name is Jacob Cabralis. I am the supervisor for meter valves and hydrants for the water department. This morning I'm going to demonstrate how we are going to identify both sides of the water lines type of material on both a city site and customer site inside the meter boxes. So next, we're going to demonstrate how to remove the lid without disconnecting the Earth cable. So if you just tug on the lid, you can tell that there's an ERT cable attached to it. You don't have to lift it very high.
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