Here is a transcript of the Silver City Report:
KC Counts:
Let's talk first about the weekend and another blues fest in the books. A good one for Silver City?
Nick Seibel:
Yeah, Silver City Blues Festival, always popular, both with locals and a lot of people from out of town in Grand County over the weekend for the festival, which expanded last year back to two days, so Saturday and Sunday. Last year, also kind of at the last minute, they added a car show, which this year was greatly expanded, more than 100 cars out there. there on Saturday, parked down on Pope Street, which added a lot of color and interest to the festival, in addition to all the great music that went on for those couple of days. And lots and lots of bands, not just in the park, but also at the Whiskey Creek Zocalo and at the Little Toad Creek downtown. So it was just a very musical weekend in Silver City. And it's always nice to see people out and about and enjoying that. And the weather was perfect.
KC Counts:
Yeah, and the unofficial start to Summer, of course. And Summer means trying to find ways to cool off. And a lot of people are finding that in Santa Clara.
Nick Seibel:
That's right, Santa of course, has their splash park, which is super popular in the summertime. They opened on Monday, on Memorial Day, and they will be open through the summer. That, of course, is free and open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. They also do a Music in the Park series, which is going to start June 12 in Santa Clara. And they are building a pump track for bicycles for kids to use. And they're expecting that that will be done around July 4th. So for kids to do in Santa Clara. In Silver City, the Silver City swimming pool is going to be opening up this weekend. They are going to have somewhat more limited hours and be closing up the pool the middle of August this year. They also won't be open on Mondays and the admission price is going up by a dollar because of rising prices for the town there.
KC Counts:
Now everything's going up.
Nick Seibel:
That's exactly right, but everybody's feeling it and everybody's trying to deal with it as best they can, I suppose.
KC Counts:
Well, these big festivals like the Blues Fest, I know are big economic drivers and great for the community, but there's a few folks who are thinking about economic development on a daily basis. Tell us about the new economic committee formed by the mayor.
Nick Seibel:
So the new mayor, Simon Wheaton-Smith, who took office the first of the year for the town of Silver City, has instituted a couple of new town committees. One of them is the Economic Development and Research Committee, which had its first meeting earlier this month. And those members of the committee, which includes a member of the town council, some real estate investors, university professors, and former town councilors, are really kind of starting out by looking at the town's tax And they're especially interested in looking at how investments by town government maybe track in bringing money back in in gross receipts tax and then lodgers tax. A couple months back, the town announced that they weren't going to be sponsoring any of the events in the community. For instance, they were a longtime sponsor of the Tour of the Gila, which just happened a few weeks ago, and the Blues Festival, which just took place. place over the weekend, and that really has made things a little difficult for organizers. So one of the things the committee is really looking at is what kind of return the town might get on those sorts of investments and whether they ought to look at going back to them again in the future.
KC Counts:
All right. And I know you can read more on these stories and others you're following at scdailypress.com. Of course, the election is coming up Tuesday, and you've held some candidate forums. And where can folks find those?
Nick Seibel:
Yeah, we've got those on our Facebook page, which is facebook.com slash Silver City News. And of course, the last day for early voting is this Saturday at the Grant County Clerk's Office where the Bayard Community Center. And then just as it is everywhere in New Mexico, polls are open from 7 A.m. to 7 P.m. on Tuesday next week.
KC Counts:
Nick Seibel, thanks so much for the update. Have a wonderful week.
Nick Seibel:
And you too. Don't forget to vote.
