Mayor Ken Miyagishima gave his 2016 State of the City Address in front of a packed crowd in the City Council Chambers, he highlighted investments the city has made and can make in the future to continue the strong success in Las Cruces.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima highlighted investments the city is making in roads, and the construction of the downtown civic plaza that were frequently discussed in the 2015 election. He then highlighted one investment the city could make to continue to growth, investment in education.
“We need to hold up to our end of the bargain as well,” Miyagishima said. “There’s no reason why Las Cruces and Dona Ana County can’t be national leaders in making sure all of our children are prepared for kindergarten, learn to read, succeed academically, graduate from high school, and both enter and complete a successful college or career program.”
Education funding is almost completely handled by the state, and the local school board, but Miyagishima says city government needs to look at ways they can help, especially when it comes to early childhood education.
“We can work with our partners,” Miyagishima said. “Both our state and our school board, and that’s the thing we have to learn how to work together to provide the most opportunities for our children. I think it’s no longer that we can just say, hey that’s their responsibility. It needs to be all of our responsibilities.”
State Representative Bill McCamley says there is room for the city to partner with the state to look at education, especially when the state doesn’t have the time or money to address every issue.
“Any community is proposed of many different areas,” McCamley said. “So you’ve got your government, you’ve got your non-profits, you’ve got your individuals, you’ve got your businesses, so the more people can come together and contribute to things, like the education of our kids, the better off we’re going to be long term.”
Frank Lopez, Executive Director of Ngage New Mexico, is working on a plan to improve early childhood education in New Mexico. He says there is a place for the city to invest in education initiatives.
“As we develop this plan and we identify gaps,” Lopez said. “We are going to get to the place where we can be very specific as to how the city can help, and how the county can help, but I’ll give you one tiny example. Right now one of our subgroups is working on what we call the early childhood hub, which includes a one-stop shop, and a children’s museum, It’s never been done before, and it could be a tremendous thing. We know the city can help us, when we get to that stage, we know the county can help, and really it’s a cross- sector thing, and we’re going to tap into everyone.”
The Mayor also highlighted the success of reducing teen pregnancy rates, the city’s work in the El Paso Electric Rate Case, and the city’s planning efforts downtown and as part of the Amador Proximo project.
