City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. This is the Cortez City Council work session/sp specialcial meeting. Today is Tuesday, January 27th, 2026, and the time is 7 p.m. I'd like to call this meeting to order and we'll start with A on our agenda, public arts committee interviews. We'll start with A. I'd like to invite Melinda to the podium. Welcome and thank you for your interest. Uh go ahead and turn your microphone on. There should be a little button. Make sure then a light turns green. Um we've got a set of questions for you that we'll go through. Um and then we'll be making this decision tonight at our regular meeting. Sounds good. Thank you.

So we'll start with uh Council Member Lewis. Hi. What motivates you to apply for a position on the public arts advisory board? I believe that we as community members are responsible for making our community what we want it to be and that requires dedication and time served. And I believe that the public arts uh is an area of great well it is an area of great interest for me and I believe that um Cortez has a lot to offer and I want to be a part of that in helping our community grow.

Thank you. Have you had the opportunity to attend a Cortez Arts Committee meeting? And if so, what were your primary takeaways or observations? I have not attended. I've had uh several conversations with Eric about it, but I have not attended a meeting. Hi.

What specific skills or unique perspectives do you believe would most benefit the committee? I think having a holistic view of um goals and strategic plan for the committee where making sure that we are being equitable in the things that we are bringing forward and and how we are uh implementing them across the city. Um making sure that we have a plan and a budget and that we stick to both of those things. Great. Thank you. Uh, please describe your direct experience in the arts, whether it's as a practicing artist, an educator, an advocate or a member of an arts related organization.

I I currently own Barroo Cottage, which is a local florist, and I um believe that the art of floral design is part of the arts. Also, my mother is an artist. She um does oil and water painting and so I've spent my life growing up in that environment. Um I enjoy arts of all kind including music. Um and so I don't necessarily other than floral floral design feel like I'm a great artist, but I do love the arts and and appreciate all different kinds of art.

Thank you. So you can you share your long-term visit for the arts in Cortez and more broadly throughout Monizuma County?

That's a good question. So um as you all know I we recently moved here. Randy started with the city in June and I moved here at the end of September. So I'm still getting my feet under me really when it comes to the community and where we are, what we have in mind and what our plans are. I think that there is a lot of opportunity for us to [clears throat] consider all of the programs that are currently in place, whether it's the the beautifification um grants that are that are already out there in looking at Main Street and Broadway and how do we work together with other committees to partner and make sure that we're in alignment and that whatever the arts is doing is uh adjacent and um in alignment with other groups who are also doing things to bring forward the community. uh because we are small as you mentioned monizuma county we need to consider that right and so I don't know what all the rules are in terms of um being able to spend money or where is it all in the city limit so I have a lot of learning to do right so that would be my first goal is to learn and understand what can we do what should we be doing what is the current strategic plan what are other groups strategic plans how do we partner with them how do we learn and grow together and so that would kind of be My first approach is to get that stability under me and then be able to say here's what I believe the future could look like.

Thank you. Yeah. Hi, good evening. Thanks for coming in. Um, what do you identify as the most significant challenges currently facing the arts both as a general field and specifically within our local community?

I think our community is blessed in several ways. We have the cultural center which is lovely and amazing and and brings forward a lot of things. Um we have a lot of beautiful things around us. Um I think sometimes I grew up in the four corners area and growing up here I didn't appreciate the beauty of the area until I left and grew up and came back to it. And so I think when sometimes we forget when we're here every day the beauty that is around us. So reminding ourselves of that and reminding others of the beauty that is here I think can sometimes um it it just slip it evades us right. Uh I think also especially with where we are economically sometimes the arts and the beautifification of things becomes a lower priority than other things. And so just making sure that we're cognizant of where everyone is in the community, how folks who may be struggling just to put food on their table may perceive us spending money on arts, right? And balancing all of those things together. I also believe that the arts can bring a lot of value and um and meaning to all of us regardless of where we are in life. And sometimes when we are struggling, being able to have that beauty and a place to go to is also very very important. So just kind of keeping all of those things in mind and creating a balance that and also understanding that no matter what you do, not everyone is going to be happy.

Thank you for the questions we had for you. So we'll uh make a decision tonight and then I'm assuming Helen will let you know. Thank you. Thank you for your interest. Okay. Um, our next candidate, Tanner, is unfortunately sick tonight and I don't think going to make it. Um, so I'd like to invite uh Barnabas up. Welcome. Yeah, it does. We got it. [snorts] All right, we'll go through kind of the same questions for you. Oh, and make sure the microphone's on. There's a button towards the front and then it'll turn green.

There it goes. Can you hear me now? Thanks. Okay, then we're going to start our questions uh with Council Member Kehoffer.

Thank you. Welcome. What motivates you to apply for a position on the public arts advisory board? Um, I was looking for a way to volunteer and give to the community. I'm I'm uh semi-retired. I moved here two years ago and um wanted to bring uh whatever expertise I could to help um with the arts advisory committee. I served where I lived in Leadville. I've served on the preservation commission there and I also served on the preservation commission in Prescuit, Arizona when I lived there. So, um, I like to get involved, see what I can do to help.

Thank you. Um, have you had the opportunity to attend a Cortez Arts Committee meeting? If so, what were your primary takeaways or observations from that experience? Um, I have not, but uh I just I what I learned I spoke with with was from Danielle and from Helen West and I went on the website and see what they have posted on the website and um so no, I don't know what it's like at a meeting. I was thinking I would call one of the members, but um I talked to Helen instead and she gave me an overview of what it's like and the initiatives that they're they're doing. And um um I don't know does that answer your question? Okay. Is that good enough? Thanks.

So, Barnabas, can you share with us what specific skills or unique perspectives you believe would most benefit the community? Um so as a landscape architect I was recently involved in do a public art project in Leadville um where it was actually a Irish miners memorial which took a number of years to accomplish and so I'm kind of projectoriented person and so um I bring that expertise about being able to specify pro imagine projects specify them and then bring them to construction. So I have direct experience with that that might might be valuable uh for um the installation end of things or um and for fundraising perhaps. Um so that's some direct experience on making something actually building something.

Thank you. Yep. All right. uh please describe your direct experience in the arts whether it's as a practicing artist, an educator, an advocate, or a member of an arts related organization.

Okay. Um well, I uh I I majored with a minor in fine arts from university going way back. Um I'm a practicing landscape architect and a planner. So, I'm a I do I've been involved in graphics and um and illustration for my my whole career. Um that's just professionally um what I do. I don't I don't have I'm not a uh I wouldn't call myself an artist even though I do artistic work, but um I work with artists on projects all the time.

Great. Thank you. Hi. Hey. What is your long-term vision for the arts in Cortez and more broadly throughout Monzuma County? What was the second part? Uh long-term visions in Cortez and Monzuma County.

Oh. Um I don't know. [laughter] But um I I think um uh like I mentioned earlier, I have lived here for a couple years, but I've been traveling through here because I've lived in Arizona and in Colorado for the last 35 years and constantly travel through. I I I think of this this area even though I didn't know back then I was going to live here. Um very much a crossroads of uh and the potential. I mean, the landscape is phenomenal. I mean there's it's hard to imagine a better place to be like a landscape painter for example or something like that.

I think the opportunities of the region are phenomenal and um but I don't can't really I don't know I don't have a vision yet. I want to see what everybody else on the committee has to say. [laughter] What do you identify as the most significant challenges currently facing the arts both in general and specifically within our community?

Well, I I realize that there's pro it's challenging that there is not an operating budget for the for the arts uh committee right now. Um identifying some projects and and doing some fundraising for those I think would be would be challenging. Um um especially when it comes taking actual projects and and getting the built and realized um and the arts in general is um often gets underfunded or a lot of any public funding often gets cut. Doesn't mean that it can't it can't happen. It can't exist. I think it it certainly can. It just makes it makes it more challenging. All right. Thank you so much for your interest.

You're welcome. Thank you. Okay. Okay. We are going to move on on our agenda uh to B, which is uh council general discussion. Do we have any any items that a coun any council member would like to bring up for discussion? Go ahead. Um, I had some just some general questions regarding our plans for uh city council candidate forums and what we have outlined. Do we have anything so far or can you give us a time frame or where we're at?

Hi. Yes, I spoke with the League of Women Voters. Um, and right now the candidate forum is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11th. uh from um about 6 to 8:30. That's still a tentative time, but it'll be Wednesday, March 11th. And that'll be held by the League of Women Voters here in the city council chambers. We've previously hosted something just for just by the city, did we not? Um do we have any plans to do that again for for them to meet each uh department head? Yeah. Yeah. But that won't, excuse me, that won't be towards the end of March, closer to the actual election.

Yeah, there will be, excuse me, [clears throat] a meet and greet with uh city staff and uh the candidates, but that is not a forum in any way. So,

I was just wondering if I could make kind of a public announcement about something that's coming up in the community. And um that is a showing of the movie called A Place at the Table that follows um three different families through food insecurity over time. One of those families is from um Colorado. sponsored by the Good Samaritan Food Pantry. It'll be Thursday evening at the Sunflower Theater at 7 PM. There's no cost. Um there will be a panel discussion afterwards with I believe five women who are working in different organizations throughout the area addressing um food security. So, it's something I'm involved in. I thought other people might want to know about it.

Uh this this Thursday evening, correct? Okay. Thank you. Thanks.