The first Board of County Commissioners meeting of the year was held at the Doña Ana County Government Center.
The meeting saw the election of a new chair and vice chair for the new year. The board elected Commissioner Manuel Sanchez as chairperson, replacing Commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez.
“Commissioner Sanchez, congratulations. You are chair for this year. Which means it's your meeting, sir. So I'm going to, we're going to switch, switch places,” said Schaljo-Hernandez.
And Commissioner Gloria Gameros as new vice chair, replacing Commissioner Susana Chaparro.
Of course, there was no shortage of Project Jupiter concerns during public comment. Commissioner Chaparro thanked those who expressed their feelings about the project.
“I appreciate your honesty. I appreciate your willingness to come here and your courage to speak out, because it does take courage to speak out,” Chaparro said.
Twelve approvals were made at the meeting. One to approve the $1.5 million Project Jupiter is giving to the Boys and Girls Club. Commissioner Chaparro voted against it.
"I'd like to congratulate the Boys and Girls Club for being able to obtain the money. I think it's such a worthwhile organization for the youth,” Chaparro said. “I know these negotiations were done months ago before the memorandum of understanding was signed. I would have liked to have been a part of those negotiations. And also, there's so many other community agencies and organizations that perhaps would have been able to receive other monies besides the Boys and Girls Club. I did make an attempt.”
Chair Sanchez clarified that this resolution was just to document community benefits coming from Project Jupiter.
Other approvals included GO bond reimbursements to start projects. And getting cardiac monitors and self-contained breathing apparatuses for NMSU's fire department.
The full meeting can be found on the county's YouTube page. The next BOCC meeting will be in two weeks, January, 27th.
