Following a unanimous vote, the Las Cruces City Council has tabled the possible allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds for community and economic development initiatives until late February.
While 21 nonprofits originally applied to receive a portion of the ARPA funding, an initial audit report revealed potential areas of city non-compliance and a lack of transparency regarding eligibility determination.
Specific findings include a lack of a scoring matrix during the initial review process—leading to a lack of clarity as to why some nonprofits were not selected for funding. Councilor Tessa Abeyta-Stuve stresses the council must see the finalized audit report, which is expected to be published prior to the February meeting, before supporting any funding allocations.
“We'll be able to get a little bit more gauge of what those next steps might be and if there can be preservation of the original procurement or if there are other issues that we need to consider,” Abeyta-Stuve said.
Councilor Johana Bencomo says the approximately $10.4 million in ARPA funding needs to be utilized by community members as soon as possible—but notes she wants to ensure the allocation process is fair.
“The last time the federal government gave folks any money because of the pandemic was forever ago and frankly, it was shamefully a little amount,” Bencomo said. “There's a lot of folks who are in huge need. So, I personally see an urgency, but I also see a need for the questions that community members have to be answered.”
Mayor Ken Miyagishima says the city could potentially change the way the nonprofit applications are reviewed, switching from the previously used request for proposal process. City Attorney Jennifer Vega-Brown agrees that the city could change the review process, noting they could do so without having to restart the application process over entirely.
“In the meantime, you could also put another process on the agenda in the event that you determine not to complete the RFP process and to go ahead and cancel it,” Vega-Brown said. “You could have another process in place and ready to go. That would be a review process, not a submission process. The submissions have already occurred.”
Miyagishima says the initial applicants would have the ability to come before the council to advocate for their projects publicly.
“That allows them, the applicants, both who may be getting it and those who maybe didn’t make it the first round, to at least discuss with council why they feel they should have gotten it or why they feel they didn't get it,” Miyagishima said.
The council is scheduled to discuss the issue further during the February 22 meeting.
