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Las Cruces City Council Extends Emergency Proclamation, Reviews ARPA Economic Development Plan

City of Las Cruces

A unanimous vote by the Las Cruces City Council has extended Mayor Ken Miyagishima’s emergency proclamation as part of an ongoing city effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

The extended proclamation will now run concurrently with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Executive Order 2021-044, declaring a statewide public health emergency.

The council also reaffirmed support for a resolution requirement stipulating the non-vaccinated must wear masks within city council chambers. While some members of the public voiced opposition, Mayor Miyagishima stressed the importance of creating a safe atmosphere at city hall, noting that members of the public can choose to watch council proceedings online.

“You come here voluntarily,” Miyagishima said.  “Nowhere does our proclamation require you to take the vaccine. That's strictly your choice, and I just wanted to clarify that.”

Council also reviewed how American Rescue Plan Act dollars will be used to boost community and economic development. Of the more than 24.7 million dollars in ARPA funding to be distributed to the city of Las Cruces, over 10 million will be available to help eligible 501c organizations address priorities like housing insecurity and small business revenue decline.

City Housing and Neighborhood Services Manager Natalie Green says the city is asking for a clear justification of need from organizations applying for funding.

“Under the project justification we're asking for very clear objective targets, clear rationale on how it responds to the pandemic and the other available uses of ARPA,” Green said.  

Green says the Las Cruces City Council will need to set a funding request range for 501c organizations.  

“Staff is proposing around $250,000 as a minimum and 2 million as a maximum,” Green said. “And the reason for that is really just staff capacity. So, when you're talking about 10 million, at $250,000 each, that's 40 contracts, versus five contracts for the 2 million.”

A staff review committee will evaluate each of the organizations that apply for funding, taking their proposed budget, community impact, and project feasibility/quality into consideration.

According to the current timeline, the city council is expected to vote on funding recommendations in November. Councilor Kasandra Gandara is worried that timeline could be rushed, asking for the review process to be extended into 2022.

“I think it's too fast, and I'd like to see it go into next year,” Gandara said. “We're still not out of COVID. I think so many of them are transitioning. There's issues with recruiting and retaining their employees. I guess my motto is go big or go home. I think we have to be very specific, and I'd like to see more data in terms of the areas that I think we need to focus on.”

Councilor Johana Bencomo says she feels the level of urgency is extreme— emphasizing the need to allocate money quickly.

“To me there feels like there's urgency in getting this economic relief money out, given that we're in an emergency,” Bencomo said. “Like there's qualitative and quantitative data that is telling us the gaps in our community, and the gaps that were made even larger by the pandemic.”

Mayor Miyagishima also indicated his support for the timeline, saying he wants the current city council to vote on this initiative, as both Councilor Gill Sorg and Councilor Gabe Vasquez have chosen not to run for reelection in the fall.

While Miyagishima is excited to work with the new councilors, he says the current city council has the best understanding of how to distribute the funding.

“They won't have that connection that you all have had these last 16-17 months, especially during COVID era,” Miyagishima said.  “I think, at the very minimum, regardless of where we move, that the council vote needs to come before these two gentlemen leave office.”

This initiative is expected to be further reviewed at an upcoming council meeting in September.

Madison Staten was a Multimedia Reporter for KRWG Public Media from 2020-2022.