Las Cruces City Council Meeting – September 21, 2026

The Las Cruces City Council met at approximately 1:00 PM on Monday, September 21, 2026, with Mayor Eric Enriquez presiding. No agenda or minutes were available; this summary is drawn solely from the raw transcript, which contains garbled passages and does not record formal roll-call vote tallies. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilor Coran and featured four community proclamations, public comments on water compliance and public safety, acceptance of state transportation grants, a housing incentive policy discussion, and councilmember reports.

Proclamations & Recognitions

• 2026 Veterans Parade (November 7, 2026): The parade began 31 years ago in 1995 as the brainchild of Colonel (Ret.) Fred Frank. The 2026 poster contest winner is middle-school student Chloe Sinse. Former mayor and current Councilor Bill Matisse, who started the poster program, spoke about youth-focused programs at the library in collaboration with Las Cruces Public Schools and the Doña Ana branch. Mayor Enriquez highlighted Veterans Park as a safe place for veterans' events and healing.
• International Walk to School Week (September 29 – October 2): The Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Las Cruces Public Schools accepted the proclamation, emphasizing that the students present were "a small fraction of the kids that are walking to school."
• Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15, 2026): The proclamation recognized Soledad Chavez de Chacon, cited as the first Hispanic woman elected to statewide office in the United States and appointed acting governor of New Mexico. A representative of the Las Cruces Hispanic Chamber of Commerce accepted, noting upcoming events including the Mariachi conference and Dia de los Muertos.
• Serving Seniors of Southern New Mexico: Recognized for its mission of providing support services and equipment to improve health, dignity, independence, and quality of life for older adults and caregivers. A representative encouraged contributions of any size.

Consent Calendar

• Sky Fiesta 2026 grant: The New Mexico Tourism Department awarded $1,000,000 to the City Manager's Office/Airport Department.
• Keep Las Cruces Beautiful grant: The New Mexico Tourism Department also awarded funding to the Keep Las Cruces Beautiful program in Parks and Recreation. Staff noted the program "uses it all," has a small additional amount from the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and receives General Fund support "because we never get enough funding for it."

Public Comments & Testimony

• Lead and Copper Rule (mobile homes): A speaker expressed gratification that Las Cruces Utilities took "even one hesitating step closer to taking care of everyone" after 21 months of urging by the public, including acknowledgment that mobile homes had been ignored for almost two years. The speaker criticized that a consultant, rather than the utilities director, delivered the acknowledgment.
• Meeting time: A speaker noted the meeting takes place during work hours, making participation difficult, and stated they arrived approximately five minutes late back from a lunch break.
• Community engagement on water issues: A speaker referenced a Monday work session and a Thursday event in the council chambers that were "full of information, full of experts," and noted their group (about eight people) held a two-hour-plus meeting on September 7, 2026, with Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz and Chris Favier to present facts and concerns.
• National Day of Reason refutation: A speaker appeared for the third time to refute an April statement that "our founding fathers identified religion as a threat to liberty," citing a 1988 study showing the Bible was quoted more than any other source by the founders, and quoting Thomas Jefferson ("God who gave us liberty, gave us life, gave us liberty") and a post-convention exchange attributed to Ben Franklin about whether the nation had "a republic."
• Founders and Christianity: A speaker argued the founders' religious views are often cherry-picked, stating most signers of the Declaration of Independence were followers of Christianity, and asserted "the liberty of our great nation is not up for debate."
• Public safety funding: A speaker described waking up with "two cents and an ICD" (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) and stated: "Public safety cannot be something we only support when the money comes from a source that Bencomo and Joanna approve of." The speaker added: "The truth is that you two council members are destroying our community."

Discussion Items

• Resolution 27-046 (NMDOT capital outlay awards): Crystal Silva of the Grants Administration program presented a resolution to accept two awards from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) for Public Works: (1) phase one construction of a section of Del Rey Boulevard to North Roadrunner Parkway, and (2) $2,050,000 toward the Mesa Grande Drive extension. NMDOT requires a resolution of acceptance before executing a grant agreement. The Mesa Grande project is currently in design by a private developer; funding may be used for management and related costs. Councilmembers questioned whether accepting planning money is prudent without full construction funding, and expressed concern about a gap between the project's start away from US 70 creating "different types of facilities." Direction was given to create "a safe roadway that is usable by all users and not just vehicles." The motion to approve was made and seconded; no vote tally is recorded in the transcript.
• MRA housing incentive policy: Staff outlined criteria requiring a housing project to have a minimum of $1,000,000 in hard construction costs and at least eight additional residential units, with housing projects receiving an additional 20 points. The exemption term of 8 to 13 years would be based on the project's overall public benefit, with the internal Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (MRA) committee making the recommendation. Pre-application meetings would be held, the city may subordinate its title position to project lenders, and leases may include performance requirements and clawback provisions. Staff explained the city is not waiving all property taxes, only the increase in property value attributable to construction, for a set period. A councilmember noted the city owns land under the structure so no county property taxes are paid, and asked whether school property taxes are affected. One councilmember stated, "I'll be really happy when we approve the first one of these," anticipating the first MRA project.
• Lowman project: Councilmembers noted little prior progress on the Lowman project, referenced an undisclosed first appraisal ("It's not ours... not what they're looking to buy"), and heard a speaker argue the proposal "is not solving our problem" and that despite hearing "the city wants to help us," they see "dead silence" and do not feel helped.
• Board appointments: Staff were directed to track materials related to appointees, including who is attempting to sell materials, who they represent, and whether they represent a business. Staff stated the city has no authority to compel changes but can gather information.

Councilmember Reports

• Sister City with Waters, Mexico: A councilmember sought support for establishing a sister-city relationship with Waters, Mexico, which would require a binational council meeting.
• Flock Transparency Portal: A councilmember expressed disappointment that the portal did not yet include certain items, including who LCPD is receiving network data from and the number of related data requests, and petitioned to include those items. Staff indicated an implementation phase over the next 365 days, with information to be published on the city website in coordination with communications and public works teams.

Key Outcomes

• Motion made and seconded to approve Resolution 27-046 accepting NMDOT funding for Del Rey Boulevard/Roadrunner Parkway and Mesa Grande Drive extension; no recorded vote tally is available in the transcript.
• Council directed that the Del Rey/Roadrunner project be designed as a safe, multimodal facility usable by all users, not just vehicles.
• Council directed staff to incorporate missing items into the Flock Transparency Portal, including LCPD data-sharing sources, over the 365-day implementation.
• Council signaled support for a sister-city relationship with Waters, Mexico, and the scheduling of a binational council meeting.
• Staff will continue MRA housing incentive implementation with quality checks, performance requirements, and clawback provisions, with the first project anticipated.