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Las Cruces City Council Talks Policies and Projects Ahead of 2021 State Legislative Session

City of Las Cruces

The Las Cruces City Council reviewed capital outlay projects they are seeking to prioritize, including an extension of Madrid Road, a septic system replacement and an expansion of Las Cruces International Airport.

The council reviewed a total of nine projects. They will work to approve a resolution by December 7 that narrows down the proposed improvements to a more manageable list of three to five for the state legislature to consider.

City Grant Administrator Amy Johnson emphasized the need for the council to consider the most important infrastructure needs first.

“We want to keep it a small enough list that…if there is some money available they've got things to fund, but we also want to be very cautious if they don't have any money available that we aren't asking for so much that they want to consider not funding anything,” Johnson said.

Councilor Gill Sorg spoke about the importance of prioritizing road improvements, speaking specifically about the proposed East Mesa Roads and Drainage Project, estimated to cost approximately 1.25 million.

“These are the roads that are in the same condition they were back in 1986, when the areas were annexed into the city and told that their roads would be brought up to city standards. They haven't,” Sorg said. “These are mostly dirt roads… I would say there's four to five roads that are pretty serious problems. The main thing is that this is a part of our city that has some of the poorest people in the city, and this would really help with their equity in the city's population.”

Credit City of Las Cruces
List Of Proposed Projects And Estimated Cost

Councilor Johana Bencomo indicated she’d support projects like road and septic improvements, sentiments echoed by the rest of the council.

“Personally, I'm inclined to support some of the bigger ticket items that to me feel incredibly necessary, particularly in a moment of financial crisis for the state,” Bencomo said. “Septic, roads, to me is always top of the list. Obviously, the airport expansion, I feel like we are in a critical moment in the conversation towards living into that aspiration of what the airport could look like. Obviously, I'm going to advocate for that as well.”

Council members also reviewed some of the legislative priorities they are looking to back ahead of the 2021 legislative session. One of the top policy issues on the minds of council members is the legalization of cannabis, something Councilor Gabe Vasquez believes will bring an added boost to the local economy, especially when considering the proximity of Las Cruces to the Texas state line.

“In the study that I heard during the Tax and [Revenue] State Legislative Committee just a couple of weeks ago, they're projecting that 40% of cannabis sales would be attributed to the state of Texas. So people from Texas would amount to 40% of the market, which of course would be out of state dollars being generated and spent here in our community,” Vasquez said.

Mayor Ken Miyagishima expressed he would not be supportive, but also noted Vasquez most likely has enough support from his fellow city council members.

Other policy issues the council could consider supporting include the regulation of tobacco and the funding of a water management study about the Rio Grande.

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