Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome, everybody. Good afternoon, and I'd like to call to order the regular city council meeting of September 16th to order. Ms. Cassandra.

Mayor David Romero.

Here.

Councillor Marvin Martinez. Present. Councillor Barbara Casey. Here. Councillor Benito Pacheco.

Present.

Councillor David Ulivari. Here. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We do have a quorum.

Thank you. Can we ask Chief to lead us in the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag, Pastor Pacheco, a moment of silence.

Thank you, Mayor. Let's have a moment of silence for Mr. Frank Burgett, Sr. I understand he passed away today, so an outstanding member of this community. Give a lot to the city of Las Vegas. You know, we pray for his family and all those that were impacted by him in this city, as well as let's have a moment of silence for the ongoing effort in Iran and our troops that are there, and just peace to both sides. Let's get this over with.

Councilors, any other? Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, approval of the agenda?

It's the pleasure of the council. Any recommendations for Mr. Manager? Changes to the agenda? No.

Any Mr. Mayor? Mr. Mayor. Councilman Martinez. I'll go ahead and move to approve the agenda as presented.

Motion by Councilman Martinez. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilman Livari. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it unanimously.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item, public input. We have no public input this evening. Moving on to our mayor's appointments, reports, recognitions, and proclamations.

OK, so this week, I'd like to bring forth to the governing body Mr. Ernest Mondragon. And he's here in the audience for the Lodgers Tax Board and also to Mr. Christopher Gutierrez from West Las Vegas Schools. Just for the record, I'd like to note that on our Lodgers Tax Board, we already have the members of the lodgers and the business members. So these are community members at large, according to our charter. So that's my recommendation. Any questions? No questions.

Mr. Mayor, I'll go ahead and move for the appointment of Ernest Madrigal and Christopher Gutierrez to lodge your tax board.

Second, Mr. Mayor.

Second by Councillor Martinez. Second by Councillor Casey. All in favor? Aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it unanimously, and congratulations, Mr. Madrigal.

and the city of Las Vegas. Thank you guys, I appreciate it.

Congratulations. That's it.

Chair, do you have a report?

No, one last thing I wanted, and I'll go ahead and, Chief Spann, if you don't mind, I know you have an individual with us here today.

Mayor and Council, I just want to bring our new captain to you to present, Mr. John Zotris. He was with our department before, which lost on us, and now he's

He's doing a good job.

Welcome, Mr. Shortridge. I've heard a lot of good things. Didn't know you too much before, but I heard some good things from some of the firefighters and now Chief and Chief. So welcome aboard. I'm glad you're back. Welcome.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. I just want to say thank you for joining back our team. You know, of course, I'm... kind of like some of the other council members here today that I really don't know who you are, but it's good to know that we have an added member to our team. So much appreciated and good luck with your career opportunity.

Thank you. Ditto for me. Thank you so much for wanting to continue to serve on the fire department.

I think that sometimes...

We have a tendency to just kind of take you all for granted because you're all so dedicated and you do such a good job. It's like, oh, they're there, they're fine. So I'm really glad that you are there. And welcome to, you know, the captain's position. I think that's awesome.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Sotres, welcome back to City of Las Vegas. Glad to have you. I want to thank you for being at the VFW event last week for 9-11. Thank you for representing the city there. You know, I've probably known you since you were a little boy. I worked with your dad probably about 200 or 250 years ago, so quite a ways back. You're about as big as your dad, so you look a lot like your dad, and I also know your mom, so glad to have you here. Your family has a long history here in Las Vegas, and I'm glad you're here serving us once again.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Spam, for bringing all the white people in here, and we need them. We always need people that can think the best for our city and go from there. Thank you.

And I just want to make one comment. Mr. Manager Morris and I mean and also you know the governing body here I think we all when we run for office one of our biggest things is public safety right and I think now seeing these positions you know we're taking care of them financially you know paying them you know what what the best we can but I think we're filling these positions that I know in both departments we've struggled, you know, in the past, you know, five years ago, four years ago. And I could honestly say I think every one of those positions is almost filled. I know Chief Marcus, same thing in your department. So good things are happening. We're making sure that the public is safe. And with that, Mr. Manager, well, you have a manager's report, so we'll... Thank you guys for all the work that you guys do. And to every staff member, I know... EVERY DEPARTMENT, YOU GUYS ARE WORKING HARD. WE'RE INCREASING STAFF, WHICH AT THE END IS ADDING VALUE TO OUR COMMUNITY, AND THEY'RE GETTING THE SERVICES THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY PAY TAX DOLLARS FOR. SO THANK YOU, GUYS. AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. MOVING ON TO OUR COUNCILOR'S REPORTS.

COUNCILOR, MAYOR, EVERYBODY. THANK YOU. MR. CITY MANAGER, WE HAVE SOME CONCERNS OUT THERE. I did give this to my city clerk, and she'll give it to you, but I'm going to read them out. Church Street. Behind North Public, you need to take your super back there and sweep that street out. And then on Lopez and West National, there's some trash on the city right away. And then on San Miguel Street. West of San Miguel Street, there's some vehicles parked on the city right away, horse trailers and some other stuff that had been removed for a while. I would like for you to take a look at that, sir.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Councilman Pacheco.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a couple of things. I know we've discussed them, but I want to Put them out there for the public. Mr. Manager, Arnold, Mr. Mayor, I know we've talked about Williams and Dora Celeste and some of that area that's kind of checkerboard. I just want to let the public know we continue to research that. There's some properties that are city properties that are our responsibility. And we'll be on that soon. Not to confuse the situation, the project going on on Williams is a county project and we appreciate the county upgrading that side of the road. But I do want to note that we were at the VFW event last Friday. Myself, Councillor Casey, the Mr Manager. I want to thank Chief Marcus for being there and representing the Police Department. Having your officers there. Again, Mr. Sotres, thank you for being there and having the City Fire Department and receiving that gift from the Lurie's for the fire station. I think it was a great event. I got a lot of good feedback. It was great to see so many veterans and the enthusiasm they have for what's happening here in the City of Las Vegas. A lot of big projects continue. I welcome all the input. for the DOT project here on Grand Avenue. We can't make an informed decision, or I can't make an informed decision, if there's no public feedback. So get it out there, get it to DOT. I'm here to serve the will of the people, and however that project goes, I'm going to consider my feedback based on what my constituents put out there. Mr. Mayor, that's all I have. Thank you. Councillor Casey.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I also wanted to mention the VFW's 9-11 event. It was a really successful event. It was pretty much standing room only. And we had folks from the police department, the fire department, and a lot of veterans that were there also. And they had all kinds of food. And by the end of the event, there was like nothing left. So I'm glad that everybody had a chance to enjoy it and to get to visit with each other and bring us up to date on issues or whatever. It was a wonderful event. And I want to thank the VFW for sponsoring that because it was... I think it was good for the community to have that camaraderie between, you know, all the people that were there, the veterans, the different departments from the city, and spouses of different veterans, and of course the Lutie family that purchased the flag that they donated to the fire department for their museum, and that THE FLAG HAS THE NAMES OF EVERY PERSON THAT DIED AT 9-11. AND IT WAS A REALLY WONDERFUL GIFT TO GIVE TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR THE MUSEUM. ON A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT TONE TODAY IS MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY. AND IT'S CELEBRATED ON SEPTEMBER 16TH BECAUSE IN 1810, a Catholic priest by the name of Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called his parishioners for a rebellion against the Spanish Empire. And he did it by yelling it out, saying, you know, come on, we got to get rid of the Spanish rule. And so that is called El Grito de Dolores. And Dolores is the little tiny town where he was the pastor at that church. And so... It was a call to all the Mexicans, from there it just grew nationwide, to rebel against the Spanish rule. And although they didn't receive freedom from Spain until 1821, it took them 11 years to do it, This is celebrated every year as Mexican Independence Day because it was the start of the movement to get away from the Spanish government and do their own thing. And so in honor of many of us who are of Mexican descent, Viva Mexico! Thank you, Mr. Mayor. That's all.

Thank you, Councillor.

Mr. Mayor.

Councillor Martinez.

Thank you. A couple of things. I wanted to go ahead and mention that we have Amnesty Day coming up. Ward 4 and 3 are going to be having Amnesty Day this weekend on Saturday. From 8 to 12, our director, David Marcus, is leading that event, and we want to make sure that that's a good, successful event. So anybody listening out there, Ward 4, Ward 3, that has the ability to get out there and take your trash and stuff that you can dispose of, it'll be a free event to the local people here in our community. WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE KNOW THAT. ALSO YESTERDAY I WENT AHEAD AND I ATTENDED THE GRAND AVENUE STUDY PROJECT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, GOING TO BE, HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT AND IT'S BEEN ON THE PAPERS FOR A LITTLE BIT. AND, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, LIKE COUNSELOR PACHECO MENTIONED, THERE'S A LOT OF FEEDBACK FROM SOME RESIDENTS THAT CARE OR DON'T CARE ABOUT IT. So there's still information out there that we can get our hands on, and people can still submit that feedback to that. So I want to make sure that people understand that. That project is still in a phase where they want to propose a roundabout. I'm really not in favor of roundabout, but I'm willing to listen to what has to be done. And one of the big things about... My concerns about a roundabout, and I'm just going to throw that in real quick, is the fact that we have a lot of elderly people in our community. And if they're confusing for the younger crowds, I can only imagine the elderly having to go through a four-lane roundabout. So, Arnold, thank you for showing up. I appreciate the... backing on that as well and i know that this council has has voted you know to uh to hopefully go against that but maybe there's some propositions that'll be coming up that'll work for the community and we could all agree to that um one of the other things uh one one other piece of good news that i have is and i don't know if you know we need to talk about this lucas i know that we We talked a little bit about SHPO. SHPO is the entity that is for the historical preservation of our community. And they're giving us pretty much the green light. They've given us the green light to go ahead and do the renovation of our plaza park. So it's going to take a little bit of time to get everything in order and put all that paperwork together. I'm glad to say that that's a project that's going to be moving forward, and it's much appreciated, and a lot of people are waiting to see what we're going to do. So, again, I just appreciate all the projects that are going on in town, and please be patient with those individuals working on those projects. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councillor. And just to add to that... There will be a public hearing that we have to have with 30 days from now, am I correct, Mr. Marcus? So that'll be coming. We'll work with our, you know, the manager will work with our PIO, and that's something that's required under, you know, the SHPO's requirements. But as far as SHPO's, I know we have a member here of the Rough Rider Rally group, but... It was something that we didn't anticipate any issues, but we had to go through this hurdle, and we're doing that. The next step is the 30-day public hearing, so we'll do that. So I just wanted to add that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item, our city manager's report. We have our city manager, Mr. Robert A. Anaya.

Mr. Manager. Mr. Mayor, members of the council, first and foremost, I wanted to apologize for the... report being handed out today. I actually did it on purpose, though, because I felt that it was important to speak to the 60% design of the water treatment plant that Mr. Martinez, Mr. Scoggin, and I just got back today from. And so I've also included, because there's been some questions in the community associated with the water treatment plant, I felt it was a good time to summarize and recap many of the things that have occurred since May 29th 2025 to to date and so I'm gonna do that today and Like I said, I apologize for the for it the packet size and I realize that you haven't had a chance to go through the whole packet. And so we stand ready here tonight, but also later to follow up with any counselors individually as to our department director's reports and other details that are contained in my report as well. I'd like to just ask that my report be included in its entirety in minutes, Madam Clerk, and I'll go through some of the key pieces that I would like to highlight. Muchisimas gracias. Under that, I want to thank very clearly and explicitly the work of our water distribution team, our wastewater department, and our gas department. Constantly and consistently, they are answering the call for leaks any time of day or night, rain or shine. And they're not unnoticed, I know, by all of us and for sure by you, Mayor and Council. But I wanted to highlight them. I wanted to highlight their work. They don't... ask for accolades, they do their job. They get out there in rain or shine and take care of business. So I wanted to highlight all of them in those three areas in particular in this month's report. Under pursuing a higher level of excellence, I've listed the upcoming training that you've approved for me to attend with ICMA and the specific sessions that I'll be attending. And as requested by Counselor Casey and counsel, I will bring back reports and information specifically tied to my work and those professional development sessions. I wanted to highlight three individuals that recently received their Chief Procurement Officer certifications, Kayla Backert, Sabian Saiz Gomez, and Nathan Roybal. So I want to congratulate them on their efforts and diligence. And I believe with these three additional, we have over 10, Mr. Madrid?

Yes.

Right now? Would you like to speak to the certification?

I don't think it's a pool operator.

Those three. What's that? Pool operators. Am I correct? Yes. Oh, is it pool? Okay. Oh, so my bad. I had my bad on that. So those are the pool certifications. So Mr. Marquez, if you'd speak to those.

I know that finance is very important, but so is the pool. Pool operation. My bad. Thank you, Mr. Manager, for recognizing that staff. They took a good three months studying and taking care of the tests that they need to do written and oral and actually physical to get this certification. This assists us in having every shift covered with a CPO official over there, a certified pool official over there. They'll be able to do the testing properly. They'll be able to monitor the chlorine, monitor the pH levels, and set everything up the way it's supposed to be over there. So I'm extremely, extremely proud of these three. They went ahead and they put a lot of time and effort into it, took time out of their afternoons to study. And the test isn't easy. When the certification officer shows up, he's very intense and he's very professional and makes sure that things are followed to the letter over there. So I'm very proud of them.

And could you correctly read in the record the title of their certification?

Sure. It's a certified pool official. So now they're able to do all the testing and monitoring, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Marcus, for that. And congratulations to those team members in that work. On the water treatment facility, I wanted to read these into the record specifically because I think it provides information CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND TO THE MASS AMOUNT OF WORK THAT'S HAPPENED FROM MAY 29TH, WHICH WAS THE DATE OF THAT TOWN HALL THAT THE GOVERNOR HAD TO TO DATE. AND SO I DO WANT TO, IF I COULD, MAYOR AND COUNCIL, READ INTO THE RECORD. that city leadership has been involved from the very beginning and provided us a good direction, but we as a collective team have been working hand in glove to work through the design associated with the water treatment plant. So on May 29th, as I said, there was that public town hall where there was a lot of frustrations aired on the part of the state of New Mexico and other parties. But from that, on June 12th, and it's included in your packet, Mayor Romero and I remitted a letter to the governor that explicitly said that we're at the table, we're ready to work, we're ready to work together collaboratively through a process to help us advance a water treatment plan. That was June 12th. June 26, 2025, the intergovernmental agreement was signed by Mayor Romero after being approved by the City of Council. The agreement was fully executed on July 2, 2025, and that's also Attachment 2. July 16, 2025, Plexos was hired by the State of New Mexico to facilitate working as a project manager and other program related items for the planning and preparation for the water treatment facility. October 8th, 2025, Burris McDonald was hired by the state of New Mexico via the Environment Department to design the water treatment facility. January 29th and 30th, 2026, Councilor Martinez, Councilor Ulibarri, Jimmy Saiz, Travis Martinez, and myself, along with Environment Department staff, as well as Plexos, visited the Castle Rock Plum Creek Water Treatment Facility. April 15th and 16th, Travis Martinez, Dominic Mares, and Josh Skagen toured and learned about the Plum Creek Water Treatment Facility and its operations. April 16th, Travis Martinez, Dominic Mares, Josh Scoggin, Jimmy Seiss, and myself, Chad Freeman, and Andres Delgado participated in the 30% design of the new water treatment facility. July 1st, 2026, construction started for the foundation and work connected to the granular activated carbon system at the water treatment facility. July 20th through the 22nd, Travis Martinez, Jimmy Seiss, myself, and Chad Freeman participated Toured and inspected the granular activated carbon vessels in Kendallville, Indiana. August 10th, 2026, the first GAC vessel arrived in Las Vegas for installation. September 14th through today, Travis Martinez, Mr. Scoggin, Chad Freeman, Andres Delgado, and myself participated in the 60% design in Inglewood, Colorado. Before I go any further, I want to turn over the microphone, if you'd pass it to Mr. Martinez. And Mr. Martinez, what I would like you to speak to, because there has been some concerns, questions raised associated with where we're at in the process. I just articulated the vast amount of work that's been done, but there's a lot of in-between work that's happened throughout the planning phase of the facility. So if you'd talk to the volume of meetings and provide a summary of the meetings that have occurred. And then specifically, Mr. Martinez, based on your several visits now to Colorado and your work directly connected to our partners with the State of New Mexico Environment Department as well as Plexos, talk to the facility. It was exciting yesterday to see how things have advanced, but I want you to also speak to not only the facility, the complexity of the facility, and how it's going to impact the city as we advance from 60 to now 90% design.

Mayor, Council, to speak to water treatment facility in its entirety and all the specifications and all the meetings that we've had it's very uh technical on the aspects of what we're doing now because with all the water testing that burns and mcdonald has done and all of the testing that goes along with the water chemistry and the different types of chemicals that they're going to use to to treat the water that also falls into operation what type of operation are we going to use what type of Machines are going to be there. What type of chemical are we going to use? And it's based off of the water for all four seasons because the water has turnovers for every season that it has. And that comes along with TOCs and different contaminants that we have, especially with the Hermes Peak Half Canyon Fire. But related to the specifications and everything that we've had and all the meetings and everything we've seen with the 60% design, we were able to see for ourselves the different type of chemicals that they are using. There is some stuff that we've never even seen before or have even used. So in its entirety, to give the new water treatment facility, there's going to be a backup to a backup to a backup. And it's going to depend on the type of chemistry of the water that we have at that time. So the plant will be able to adjust itself as operations that we have to make sure that that water is always going to be in compliance. And with that being said, now we got to see the new facility. All the way that the process control is going to work from all the way from the raw water to the middle to the treatment to the finished product, it's going to be to the point where once that plant is dialed in and everything is good, all we're going to really need for us is operations and maintenance. So there's a lot of technical aspects to this plant, and I, myself, and Robert have seen the 3D visual of what it's gonna look like, and I can guarantee you we're gonna have a facility that's gonna be one of the best here in New Mexico. I feel that way.

Absolutely, Mr. Martinez, and relative to the timeline, which is something that there's been question about, we from the beginning provided all of our documentation through request for information. If you could just briefly touch on the magnitude and volume of information that we provided on work that the city did, yourself, other contractors associated with the city, that really helped expedite the work of the Burns McDonald and the plant. But if you could speak to that, I think it's good for the public to hear how much volume of information that's been provided in a compressed period of time.

Well, within the timeframe that we've worked with Plexus and Burns and McDonald and all the requests for information and all the data and all the reports and everything that they've had, I think we've already given them over 1,600 different types of documents. Sorry, it's a lot of work for me and my staff to go and get everything and put it in, and that actually excelled their project even more and faster. If they didn't have this documentation, I don't think we would be at the 60% design of where we're at right now. So that's kind of the aspect of that part.

Appreciate it, Mr. Martinez. And just to say it on the record again, it's been a multifaceted approach and it's been an inclusive approach. And you have included your whole team. including our level four operator from the beginning, and it continues to happen on a weekly basis. We have regular weekly meetings, and then you also have other technical meetings that you're participating in regularly, correct?

I got my meetings after meetings after meetings pertaining to the water treatment facility in its entirety. But as well, Robert is saying, I have brought all of the staff on board along with this process. So that way they understand their facility. from the get-go all the way until operation. So that way when it comes down time, they already know the aspects of the plan and the design and where it's going to go, as well as the chemical. And we actually learned a lot this week with the chemicals. You know, we used to think, you know, just because our water is negatively charged and we have to have a positive, they actually explained a lot of detail, in detail with the different chemicals that they use and Actually, as a matter of fact, I was talking with Robert, and we're going to make a few adjustments to the water treatment facility from what we learned just this week, you know, to tweak it a little bit because there was some stuff that we didn't know, and we're learning a lot from this collaborative stuff back and forth.

So last piece, Mr. Martinez, we're excited that we have a new building being constructed right now that's surrounding the granular activated carbon vessels. Could you speak to that project and how it's going to interface with our existing plant, but also going to be part of the new treatment facility as well?

Yes. So the good thing about the GAC is it's adaptive. which is perfect for us, especially in an older facility like that we have. So right now, the way that the process comes in, it goes in from the raw water to the clarifier, all the way down to the filter bed. Well, you guys know the whole thing with the filter beds. I've explained them so many times. But from the filter bed and the regular process, it goes from filter bed to clear well. That's where it goes in. It gets the chlorine. It's got its contact type, and then it goes to distribution. Well, it's going to have one more process, which is a granulated activated carbon. And the GAC is supposed to help with total organic removal. It's supposed to help with smell. It's supposed to help with taste and odor. The issues that we're having now with moving to Story Lake water and all the reports that everybody has had about the water and all that, this piece of equipment will be able to help us now once we come online, which is coming up in a couple months. Once we get that activated, that's going to totally help with the process that we have now and especially with our water, so. We're very ecstatic to see this piece of equipment come online.

Thank you, Mr. Martinez. Next, I'd like to move on to the finance department. We got some good news today, and I'll turn it over to the finance director to talk about the news we received today.

Mayor and council, we're just bringing the news TO YOU TODAY, WE RECEIVED NOTIFICATION LAST MONTH, AND THE NOTIFICATION WAS THAT OUR BUDGET WAS APPROVED BY DFA. NOW, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T TALK ABOUT A LOT, AND WE REALLY DON'T DESCRIBE AND CELEBRATE, BUT WHAT OUR BUDGET IS, IT'S NOT A BOOK THAT SAYS DO WE HAVE THE MONEY FOR THIS OR THAT. THE BUDGET DOCUMENT really is the conversion of your goals and objectives and that of the administration, the management team, into a financial plan. And that's a little more complicated than plugging numbers into spreadsheets, although that's the most tedious part of it. The notification time, the turnaround time, is a real barometer of where we stand. in the quality of the document. DFA reviews for past performance in that area, for the last two years we've been within 4% of our revenue projections. On the expenditure side, we always save money, but that's because we build the capacity that we need. especially in staffing, where we're optimistic about filling positions and have been successful. In this year, we have a couple of good examples where we call it building the capacity to succeed without having exact information. Within the budget, we built the capacity, for example, to acquire a couple of properties, the one on South Pacific and Moreno and the bank buildings. Those numbers were not specifically known, but the concept was discussed among the council and the whole management team. So through those kind of communications, especially with each other, sometimes we don't have the exact dollar amounts, but if we know the concept and we know the intent, then we can build the capacity in the budget. The fact that we got approval within about three weeks is a good reflection of our reserves, our past performance, and our plan. So I just want to end by congratulating the finance team because I, as a former elected official and a former city manager, maybe I shouldn't say this, but if you took me out of the picture, you'd get the same quality budget next year. So kudos to our team and to this team because there were times where we met once, twice, sometimes three and four times to make sure that we got it right and we incorporated everything that we could that would work financially. So again, congratulations and thank you for your support.

Thank you, Mr. Madrid. Nice try, but you have a wealth of knowledge and background to help the finance department, and so congratulations to you for your effort and your work. The next thing I'd like to do is just go through quickly some of the meetings. We had an excellent supervisory training that went very well. I've been able to start to meet with other community groups. I had the pleasure of meeting with the Terra y Montes Board, Soil and Water Conservation Board. I also had the opportunity to attend the Municipal League as well as the Water and Natural Resources Interim Committee, Legislative Committee meeting in Socorro. One of the things that's come from the intergovernmental agreement between the state and us through the Environment Department is we started to establish stronger understandings and relationships with our partner entities. And Jonas Armstrong has been one of those very good individuals we've worked with in the Environment Department. I WAS ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN OR WATCH HIM PRESENT ON BRACKISH WATER AND THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO. SO WE MAY HAVE SOME OPPORTUNITIES HERE. I KNOW WE HAVE BRACKISH WATER IN OUR REGION. THE MAYOR AND I HAD SOME PRELIMINARY CONVERSATIONS WITH SOME FOLKS SOME MONTHS AGO. BUT THERE MAY BE SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUNDING AND FOR US TO POTENTIALLY CAPITALIZE ON UTILIZING BRACKISH WATER. THE NMDOT COMMISSION MEETING. and Governor's Conference and we also had the discussion related to Rodriguez Park and concepts for the plaza. So we're excited. I sent out a note to the council related to some grant opportunities. Mr. Marquez and his team are working on the outdoor recreation grant application and we also have a quick turnaround time on some grant money that the governor clawed back from projects that were unfunded in the state of New Mexico. So we're on a short window, but we're going to pull together as a team, work with Mr. Archuleta and our full executive staff to work together to try and get that application in, as well as Stantec and Mr. Lopez. Correct, Mr. Lopez? And so a lot of projects, I would also like to note on the record that design on the water tank project is advancing rapidly. And we'll be providing a more detailed report next month. But we're going to be ready, I believe, sooner than people realize to probably advance the first phase of that water tank project, which would be the airport tank project. Lines and work associated with the airport property and so More to come on that. More in the pipeline, I would just close by saying it was truly a pleasure to participate with the veterans as they were there honoring our public safety personnel. So it was a pretty awesome event. And I also had the opportunity to have had a couple different opportunities to visit with our new captain and and excited about the future that he holds and that he will provide to this community. He has entrenched roots throughout this region. And so I took a little more time, Mayor and Councillors, but I wanted to note that in your attachments, documents that you've had before, but the intergovernmental agreement, We've stuck to the intergovernmental agreement. The agreement's been functional, and we've done our end of the bargain. And the state has as well, the Environment Department. So that project is pursuing in accordance with that agreement. And then the other letter that I referred to, as well as the letter from the Department of Finance Administration. So with that, Mayor and Council, I'll stand for any questions. Questions? Comments? Councilman Martinez.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just... You know, hearing all this information, all this news that comes down the pike from even, you know, even Colorado in reference to any of the meetings that you guys attend, whether it's for water or wastewater or any of the other departments that we have, it's just a pleasure to work with a bunch of people that care about our community. And I just see that every day, and it's improving every day. And I think this governing body has made the right changes that it possibly can to make sure that the directors that we have are doing a good job for us. And I applaud them and the team, all this team, for doing such a good job. It's just very welcoming to me to hear all the good news that we have going on. Thank you, Mayor.

Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Manager. I appreciate the update. I think like many other individuals, waters are our primary concern. It's my primary concern, but it's a primary concern of the city of Las Vegas and many of our residents. If we can't get that right, we're not going to get many other things right. So I appreciate the dedication and the work. Mr. Madrid, thank you so much on the finance side. I know you bring a wealth of expertise here. I do want to note, your name came up at the VFW event last week. I guess you have Primo and yourself that worked on some part of the E Romero Fire Department. We need to find out what part that is. Arnold, get some inspection out there. I don't know if it's going to be up to code or not. So... I just say that jokingly, but he said it happened many years back. So anyway, thank you, all directors, everybody, for all the work. I really appreciate it. We're carrying a lot of momentum forward, and I'm just here to try and help keep moving it forward. So thank you.

Thank you. Just one comment, Mr. Manager. Maybe you could have Travis just clarify. I know he said we'll... He went over there and they learned a few things on the treatment of the water. But just for clarification, we're still in compliance because somebody could misinterpret that and say, oh, they're going to tweak the water. But just for the record, we're still good. We're in compliance. I know sometimes people view these meetings and blow things out of proportion. So Mr. Martinez, Mr. Manager, can you clarify that?

Yeah, Mayor, Council, water's still in compliance. And when we talk about doing the tweaking on the operation, it was part of our chemical that we learned. It was just something that we learned about a chemical we use, and we're just going to adapt it the way that they told us, nothing major. And when we do stuff like that, we always have to notify NMED, Drinking Water Bureau, anyway. So tomorrow when we're going to do it, we're going to write them an email, we're going to let them know, and then we're going to move forward. Okay. We are still in compliance. We still read regulation and the water treatment facility is still good.

Thank you. And I just wanted to clarify that because I know even as a recent this morning and other rumor out in the community that there was some contaminated water. But, you know, for the record, we're still in compliance. We're still providing good water. And I do drink tap water just, you know, for the record.

And as for what you're talking about, we've asked for documentation, so we still haven't received anything. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to know for the record as well, because some of what I hear, some of what's been portrayed in the media is the smell of the water. And we've had a clear explanation, I think, from the city. But I do want to know, and I want it on the record, that it's not exclusive to the city of Las Vegas. You can go online, you can find reports about the drinking water in Albuquerque and the heat and some of the things that we've been experiencing that have impacted theirs in a similar, if not exact, same type of way. I'm sure there's other areas throughout the state. I just happen to see the Albuquerque example because it came out in the paper a month or so ago. But it's not exclusive to us. I think we catch a lot of flack over it because of some of the past water situation that we've taken steps to improve. And I just wanted to have that noted.

And to your stuff there, Councilman, we've gone over and above on special samplings and everything like that. We do more sampling than what we're supposed to, so we always have that documentation on hand. My staff is always doing the extra and above, so To go to that, you are correct on that. Thank you.

If I could, I did want to add one other key piece that's important to the mayor and council. So we are still actively pursuing reimbursement from FEMA. We have received some resources that we've reported in our finance reports from FEMA, but we've been working diligently to get our balance of the $140 million that the city fought hard to get. And we're getting closer now. on that allocation and I just wanted to report that the relationship is improved a lot with FEMA and they came up recently and worked with us on some of our documents and we did that in partnership with our finance director and others. But I just wanted to say that. I also wanted to say that the city pays its bills. And one of the things that happened with the state of New Mexico was there was direct payments made off of Senate Bill 6 that we were thankful to get and receive that essentially helped carry the city through some very difficult financial times. And some of the payments and reimbursements we received back from FEMA, we've been paying back our obligations tied to that Senate Bill 6 money as required, and Mr. Madrid and his team helped, and we remitted over a million dollars as part of that distribution. So we're fulfilling, we're pushing to get the resources we're due, but we're also fulfilling our obligations on payments owed connected to those resources as well.

Ms. Cassandra, before we continue, if we could have a moment of silence. I do want to acknowledge, I know David and Lucas also lost their uncle last week. A moment of silence for Mr. Bobby Garcia. Condolences. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor.

Sorry for your loss.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item, our Police Chief's Report. We have our Police Chief, Mr. Caleb Marcus.

Good evening, Chief. Good evening, Mayor, Council.

Good evening, Mayor.

I hope I don't mess up anything for Shay. THIS IS THE COUNCIL REPORT FOR JULY AND AUGUST. SO OUR FIELD OPERATIONS DIVISION HAD 229 TRAFFIC CITATIONS IN JULY, 127 IN AUGUST. NON-TRAFFIC CITATIONS WERE FOUR, FIVE IN AUGUST. 42 PARKING CITATIONS IN JULY, NONE IN AUGUST. WE HAVE 42 ARRESTS IN JULY, 31 IN AUGUST. WE HAVE TWO BURGLARIES IN JULY, NONE REPORTED IN AUGUST. CALLS FOR SERVICE TOTAL WAS 1,403 FOR AUGUST, 400, I THINK IT'S 1,453, SORRY ABOUT THAT, FOR AUGUST. ALSO HERE, THIS IS THE OATH OF OFFICE FOR OUR OPEN SPACE POLICE OFFICER, RONALD DURAN. HE STARTED WITH US IN LATE AUGUST AND WAS COMMISSIONED ON THE 2ND, SO HE'S NOW PATROLLING OUR WATER, WASTEWATER, AIRPORT, city parks, trying to develop a security plan to make sure that we are up to par on everything and making sure that those areas are secured, that are vital resources for Las Vegas. And he joined us as a certified police officer from New Mexico State Police. Our communications division handled 673 911 calls in July, 712 in August, 1,403 police calls and 453 in August, 1,400, sorry. Fire department calls was 211 in July, 190 in August. AMR was 184 in July, 174 in August. City calls for service, which is our utilities, our on-call was 167 in July, 95 in August, for a total of 1,591 in July and 1,482 in August. Our animal shelter, coordinated with the Dog is my co-pilot, successfully transporting approximately five dogs to partnering facilities in northern Colorado and Nebraska. Also participated in NBC's national campaign for Telemundo, which will feature animal eligible for adoption from the shelter during August of 2026. Our beginning shelter count, I'll just give some of the numbers. 59 for dogs, 9 cats, for a total of 68. Intake from the public was 39 dogs, 25 cats for a total of 64. Five adoptions for dogs, none for cats. Outgoing transfers, two dogs, no cats. I'll jump down to the bottom with our ending shelter count of 57 dogs, 24 cats for a total of 81. These are the numbers for August for the animals in. So starting back again at 57 dogs, 24 cats for a total of 81. We had 46 intakes for dogs for August and 24 cats for a total of 66. Four adoptions for dogs, one for cats for a total of five. Our outgoing transfers were 26 for dogs, 16 for cats for a total of 42. With an ending shelter count of 50 dogs, 22 cats for a total of 72. We also had a kennel latches that were donated to the shelter and there have been successfully installed as well. And we also hired three animal care technicians and we're looking at hiring another two. The paperwork has been submitted, so we should be full staff within the animal care center here shortly. Our information division, we're continuing to index our 2018 to 2021 records for destruction. Continue training for our new employees. Also a continued record maintenance management. Our records staff successfully completed certified law enforcement records, professional certifications, and also completed a records management class, Eugene Cleaver and Estrella Martinez. During the month of July, they processed 168 incident reports in August 77, 25 traffic accidents reports in July 34 in August, 330 citations processed in July 180 in August, attended to 179 customers in July, 159 in August, scanned 407 documents in July, 281 in August, and completed 31 IPRA requests in July, 41 in August. And part of that records management class continued training across the department. These classes are offered through PRI, which is our... a good training facility that ensures that we bring our skill developments, reduce legal liability. We also teach how to input data accuracy and supports our career development within the department and making sure that we have our records management done right. And our staff is actually here tonight and have their certifications. And if they could come up, Three of them here. The three of these individuals are the only three we have in our records department. So every citation, every report, every IPRA, any piece of paperwork that comes through the department, they process it. And on top of that, they also stepped up to the next level in getting advanced training to ensure that we're doing what we need to do to make our numbers better. based off of my reports, you guys see the numbers matter and it gives us a true direction of where we need to go, what we're doing right, what we need to fix. And without these individuals here, we wouldn't be able to have that information. So all three of them did complete the records management course. And so we have Eugene Cleaver who completed the records manager as well as the certified law enforcement records professional course. We also have Nevaeh who completed the records management course. And we have Estrella Martinez who completed both the records management and also the manager course. And with this certification, we're going to continue to And part of this training is going to assist us in the future. We were in compliance with national reporting, which we've gone into compliance. And not we, these three individuals have brought us to that point. And they continue to advance their knowledge. They continue to improve how we do things. They work very close with the records clerks and the clerk's office to ensure that we're following IPRA laws, to make sure that we're doing it correctly. And I just kind of sit in the middle and watch because some of that stuff is out of my realm of expertise. But without these three doing what they do for the department, we wouldn't function the way we do. So I just wanted to give a special thanks to both of them, or to all three of them, and accelerating progress. their careers and also striving to get that executive portion of these courses. Our Street Crimes Division had 13 cases assigned in July, 12 in August, 46 self-initiated in July, 64 in August. They had five arrests in July, five in August, executed six search warrants in July, seven in August, closed out 18 cases in July, 14 in August. We had one unattended death that they handled in July and one missing person in August. They also continued to attend our district court meetings, safe house interviews, magistrate court, and MDT hearings. They also seized a total of two grams of methamphetamine in July, two in August, three firearms in July, six in August, 0.3 grams in August of crack cocaine, and 92 fentanyls in August of fentanyl pills. Excuse me. During the month of July, detectives responded to 29 calls for service in collaboration with the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office and Fort Judicial District Attorney's Office. The multi-agency task force reported one case during the operation. At the Hunter Block of Petco, officers seized evidence including three firearms, 1,070 fentanyl pills, 62.75 grams of methamphetamine, 1.26 grams of crack cocaine, 3.5 Xanax pills, and a total of $2,433 in U.S. currency. And that collaborative work is continuing. We also had two detectives attend our basic SWAT course. And like I said, we're trying to up the service that we provide to the community and bringing better trained officers and records and communication specialists to the community. Our evidence portion of our department Had 72 new cases in July, 48 in August. We turned in 216 items in July, 250 in August. Released two items of property in July, none in August. Seized two firearms by patrol in July, four in August. Two grams of methamphetamine by patrol in July, zero in August. One suboxone strip on patrol, none in August. Six fentanyl pills in July, none in August. One gram of crack cocaine in July, July, none in August. Completed nine IPRA requests in July, 19 in August, and also processed 70 digital files in July, 1,408 in August. We also checked in $225 in July, none in August, and sent out one case to the DPS labs for testing. I just want to clarify, release property, it was not narcotics going back. It was personally owned property. So we had six informational travels in the month of July. We had also a number of trainings. Detective Alice and Detective Salazar attended the advanced sex crimes course in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sergeant Tafoya and Detective Alice also attended a crime reconstruction level one course in Albuquerque. Sergeant Tafoya and Detective Salazar attended a drug investigation class in Albuquerque as well. In August, we had seven informational travels for the month. We also had an in-service recruit training start for three new employees, for three new police officers that started with us. We held a department-wide pepper ball course for our non-lethal that was given by our own instructors in-house. All our directors, managers, and supervisors also attended the supervisor training provided by the city at New Mexico Highlands University. Sergeant Aragon attended a managing field training officer program to revamp our program and make sure that we're up to par in August. And Detective Romero, Detective Salazar, Officer Salazar, Officer Garcia, and Officer Lopez completed the basic SWAT class and they'll be attending the advanced SWAT now in October. Our ground operations, we had two DWI arrests, one suspended revoked license, five speeding, one safety valve violation, four uninsured motorists, one open container, and 18 other traffic citations. Our recruitment in July, we had two entry-level police officer applicants and one open space officer applicant successfully complete the background evaluation phase. We have two entry police officers that were hired on July 27th. Subsequently, we also hired a lateral police officer for our open space. To date, no applicants for the communication specialist have been fulfilled to a formal application requirements. one applicant for animal control position. Also, our bi-monthly recruiting evaluation for entry-level police officers are continuing as scheduled. Remaining candidates on the recruitment roster is for six months. Four police officer candidates pass a physical agility test and two pass the written exam. Testing will continue and is set for September 4th, which we already passed, but we'll be having one on Friday as well. In July, we had six officer applicants, two open space, seven communication specialists, and six animal control. So we are getting the applicants. It's just getting the information we need to complete the applications is something we're going to be working on and maybe advertising the requirements out sooner. We also had five police, one open space, four communication specialists, and three in the month of August. We also participate in community events, and this is just a few of them. The Fiestas de Las Vegas, the Friday Night Alfrescos, Back to School Bash at the hospital, the Youth and Young Adult Conference, and additional alfrescos throughout the month of August. Our department vacancies, we have one police commander, one communication manager. This is a good number right here because I think Three years ago, we had like 17 vacancies, but we only have four right now for police officers. If the remaining of the people that passed that did submit their applications, we should have no vacancies hopefully by the next time they come up for a report. We have two communication specialists positions open, one police lieutenant, one narcotics sergeant, two community service aid, two animal control, two police sergeant for field operation, one narcotics agent, one investigator, and one open space officer for a total of 19 vacancies. And that concludes my report.

Chief, real quick, so going back to that slide, we only have four police officer openings right now, correct?

Yes, sir, that's correct.

Kudos, Chief.

Thank you. And one other thing that was brought to my attention that we've been wanting to do for a good long time was school resource officers. We do have two school districts that we have plenty of kids in that do require a lot of not only mentorship and having that familiar face, but calls for service. And we're dealing with things in the schools that we didn't deal with 10 years ago. I think bringing the school resource officers and reaching out to the schools is going to be a beneficial thing, not only to the department, but the community and the kids within those school districts and having a good public figure to look at that they could trust and rely on and getting to the root problems sooner than later. So that's one thing that I'm going to be exploring. I know I haven't talked to city manager yet, but that's one of the other incentives that I want to to see if we could do. And maybe even just starting with 201 for each district and kind of going from there. I DID WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE OPEN SPACE OFFICER. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS VERY PROGRESSIVE FORWARD THINKING.

I DON'T KNOW, THERE'S ONLY MAYBE A COUPLE ENTITIES IN THE STATE, MAYBE

Farmington and I think maybe Albuquerque, but that's a really forward-thinking process that the Mayor Council has supported that the Chiefs implemented and it's going to help us deal with our open space but also deal with our critical infrastructure and so Officer Duran has already dived in headfirst, right? and is doing a good work. So I just wanted to highlight that work and that specialized training that's happening and specialized areas really sets the city apart in many ways from others. And so kudos to the whole team and the work associated with that, Chief.

A couple comments, Chief. Thank you, Mr. Manager, for bringing that up, because I really, really think that that's something that maybe we could sit down with the PIO and do a story on the open space officer. I think that's huge. Maybe we could even do it for the community city spotlight that we do at the optic. But the other thing that I really want to highlight, and I had an opportunity to go to the recovery event this weekend when one of your officers shared with me that they also helped on the drone, the drone The drone system that we have that you've implemented helped basically direct resources to a fire that they helped find one of the roads is the way I understand, which is huge, right? Had we not had that resource here, it might have taken a little longer. It could have gone a little bit out of control. So I think good things are happening. I know you're using them for other reasons. And to those of you that think about bringing drugs into our community, watch out because... An officer doesn't have to be seeing you now. Now we have additional resources. So I think that's huge. That's another maybe story that we could put out. If it gets on Facebook, then some of these guys might be watching out what they're doing now. So additional tools that I guess this, not I guess, but something that this governing body with finance and city manager have committed to that, I mean, we might not have the officers out in the fields, but we do have eyes out there. So I think that's huge, and that's another thing that I think maybe we could work on. So kudos to you, Chief, and what you're doing. A lot of kudos and foresight that you're doing in your department. I know sometimes we don't always get the appreciation. Sometimes you're criticized that maybe some People aren't getting thrown in jail when your officers are doing due diligence and basically following the law, right? But a lot of things are happening, and I just want to commend you on what you're doing.

And just to touch on the drone program, it is something that was about a year and a half in the works. That was part of our opiate funding that we received. The drones do help where we are short with officers, but also officer safety overall and citizen safety. And we have made another investment into interior drones where we'll be able to make entry without having to put somebody's life at risk. If we're having a crisis, a mental health crisis, we're able to do two-way communication. at a safe distance where we're making sure that the people we're serving, we're eliminating that risk as well. So those are good incentives moving forward, and it's something that we will bring forward. I do have six new pilots for that program who have their 107 license. I didn't think that the program was going to be that intense, but it was pretty interesting to watch. So they basically are a step under flying a Cessna plane is the courses that they had to take. And moving forward, we were able to locate that fire. So we're working with OEM and county when they do have these wildland fires Save them hours of locating a road and the actual fire where it was at so we want to use these to Make our response faster, but also safer for everybody involved Thank you, Mr. Mayor I Just want to comment that I

The chief has done an outstanding job for the department. He has implemented not only what was required of him in his contract, but he has gone above and beyond that. I'm very happy that he has done such an excellent job, and I'm very happy that he hasn't gone to the state police or anyplace else. We want you to stay here, Chief, and I'm just proud that we have such a professional, dedicated Police chief that really cares not just about the city, but about everybody that's in it. And thank you so much for everything you do.

Mr. Martinez.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. Your report was excellent, like always, and I just wanted to ask a couple of questions. I know we talked about speed cameras and how that could assist in areas that maybe we don't have the manpower to cover those areas, and I'm looking forward for that assistance down the road. A lot of the people that come and ask me questions or want answers on something that we never do enough, but they don't know how far we've come, okay, and that's the big thing about it. Speeding has always been an issue in our community, and it'll never probably end. The big thing is... We need to make efforts to make sure that we do that. And I was going to ask a question. We need to have that information posted on your information. Well, you do. But the numbers seem to be small. You had like five speeding tickets or something. But for me, it's making sure that we have... those items in place so that we could help assist you guys to do a better job. People complain about the speeding situation. People need to know that you guys are out there doing that also, not just, you know, out there flying drones and doing this and doing that. It's not about any of that stuff. It's about everything that's involved in your department. So I think more people want to hear about what we can do to reduce the amount of speeding that goes on in our town and possibly even that noise ordinance that we do have. Overall, I enjoyed your report. It's been good, and I know you're improving that department on a daily basis, so I commend you on that and your team. Special thank you to those that did pass that training, and I appreciate the effort you guys put into it. It's not just about directors here. It's about everybody as a team, and we're making our community better daily. So thank you, Mayor. That's really all I had. Thank you. And just for clarification for the cameras, I know we did approve it back in May.

The company was working on a bigger project for the speeding cameras. Tomorrow we actually have a meeting with the company to start getting those implemented. We have received some of the warning signs, some of the camera signs. We've received other portions that we're going to need. Moving forward, but tomorrow we should get a better understanding and information on what's going to be happening, hopefully moving fast into the future. And we did get a complaint on the speeding, and I ran some numbers. We had a total of 6,464 traffic violations from June 1st, 2024 to current. We issued 6,393 traffic citations during those stops, which resulted in 98.9% of traffic stops issued as traffic citations. So if you get pulled over in Vegas, there's a 1% chance that you're going to drive away without getting a traffic citation.

On top of about 35,548 calls per service within that same time period that the officers responded to.

Thank you. That's the kind of information that needs to be out there too. The general public needs to hear. that we're just not waiting, you know, for something to happen. We're doing something about those things as well. So I appreciate and commend your hard work. Thank you very much, Chief.

Thank you.

Councilor Pacheco.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Chief. Just a couple of quick comments on the report. One, I always appreciate the data that you bring to it and the information that you have because that informs me and that helps me make decisions. You know, without that type of information, it's kind of hard to see which way any department's going. And I think we have a team that's utilizing data very well, and you're a great example of that. I also just want to comment on your perspective leading this department. I like your choice of wording and the way that you look at technology that you're putting into the department because you talk about public safety and loss of life on both sides. You didn't specify whether it's somebody with a mental health crisis or an officer engaging in that situation. And many times we kind of pick one side or the other. But life is life and I appreciate the way that you vocalize that and lead the department on that. I think that's a big thing. I think overall we're moving in the right way. I really appreciate the thoughts on the school resource officer. I think that is something that would be very proactive on the city's behalf. It's something that we're in need of with the schools, quite frankly. I think if we break down the officer hours that are at a school district each week, it's almost like we have an officer there anyway. I think maybe if having an officer there prevents some of the things that happen, that would be a good thing. And some of the things that need to be addressed, we already have someone there. In terms of Officer Duran, I mean, he was there at the VFW last week. We reminisced a bit. We knew each other as much younger men before he was a police officer and before I was a city councilor. So some of those stories will stay secret. And that was 200 years ago. That was about 250 years ago. But it's good to see that we have an open space officer and that we're being very progressive with that. I think part of the plans are some more enforcement with that position on the Riverwalk. I think I heard there's two others that we're going to fill, correct?

Yes, sir. One other position.

Oh, one other. And, you know, like, the Riverwalk is a beautiful... It is a beautiful asset to the city of Las Vegas. But like anything, it takes oversight, right? And I get a lot of feedback about the Riverwalk. There's a lot of people that use it, myself included. So it'd be great to see some more resources dedicated to that. I did have a couple of questions. I know it's outside of your department. It kind of reports to you. But it was curious to me to see that I think we had a total of... Let me see here, like eight intakes for, let me see, I have my numbers here somewhere. But the number of intakes for animals at the shelter and the number of adoptions. So it seems like we're, we intake way more than we adopt out. So I'm curious what our process is. And I know that's kind of out of your realm, but Mr. Manager, I think what would be maybe helpful in the future, if we could maybe get someone to give us a presentation, is what is our process for adoption? So I've received some feedback on that as well. And I'm not familiar with the City of Las Vegas process, but I know when I've adopted one of the crazy dogs I have at my house that is registered with the city is... You know, I went to Santa Fe, we walked in and we walked out with a dog. And I paid the $25 or whatever it was, right? Shed the shots and was spayed, everything else. And I want to just, I'm curious how our process stacks up to other cities. It's a bit concerning that we're bringing in more than we're putting out. And then I see that we have relocated 81 animals to other facilities, some out of state, which I think is great. I'd rather we move them along than them have to be euthanized. But what is the cost involved with that? Is a city incurring that cost?

So we do have people who volunteer their planes and do make some of those trips for us, but we also do transport to Colorado ourselves. So we do take a portion of that cost.

I know cost is just a part of the consideration, but to me it seems like there's much more cost in transporting an animal to another state on our dime than to adopt it out to a responsible citizen here in Las Vegas. And maybe people don't want dogs. I find that hard to believe with as many as I see walking around. Loose, but... But my point is that if the shelter's usually at capacity and we have no room to bring in other loose dogs that are in the community, I realize maybe we need a larger facility. That could be part of it. But part of it is are we efficiently getting animals out of there to make space?

I could bring some presentation with the animal care center manager to come in as well for one of the meetings, but I know that there is financial challenges and other challenges within the community that are kind of deep-rooted along STEM, so we're trying to push on some educational incentives, but also seeking other funding opportunities that we might be able to assist us, and I know we're in our conceptual design phase for the new animal care center. I don't know if necessarily building a new center is going to be the answer, Um, more staff, more animals living in that condition. But I agree. We could look at those adoptions and I know at one time we did have the process in the ordinance and that might be something that we do again because it changes hands or new people come in or, you know, we have a set plan for the future of Las Vegas for the animal welfare. So I think that's something that definitely we could work on.

I, I agree with you. I'm not sure. I don't, I don't believe it's ordinance now. I think it's a policy or a process. I think if we govern that a little more directly, it could maybe be a benefit. And the number for the record is 65 intakes in July and August and five adoptions. So we're bringing in more than we're adopting out by far. And maybe we can improve that process. I think sometimes a simple solution is our process. And then if not, maybe it is a facility. But right now we need to look at our process. Thank you, sir.

And those numbers also do reflect animals brought in by the county. So it is a shared facility. So I could probably work on getting a better breakdown of what the county is bringing in as well as what the city is bringing in and the public can take separate. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Manager. Caleb, doing a great job. It's a tough job. It's a big municipality. Got a lot of calls, different calls. You guys are on top of it. You start from the top to the bottom, and all the calls that come in easily goes to the city manager or to you, and your staff is doing a good job. Thank you. It's a tough job. There's a lot of things we got to take care of little by little, but We just have patience and do it little by little. It's all because our hands are full all the time. So thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor and Council. I just wanted to say, too, I appreciate all the thank yous. But without the staff, and I have an amazing staff at the PD, they're all awesome. And they're very dedicated to this community. And the support of the council and the retention and retaining our officers and our staff is why we're at where we're at. And I just want to give a huge shout out to everybody that works within that facility.

Thank you.

One more thing. I just want to say congratulations to the individuals that receive the training. I want to just say that I've had the need to call dispatch a time or two for a medical situation for a family member. And I'll tell you what, the person on the other end of the line was always professional. The emergency services got there in a very timely manner. Both times I've had to use them. So you're doing a great job over there. Thank you all very much.

Thank you. And Councillor Pacheco, you beat me to it. So by next month, I'll be working with Ms. Cassandra. and counselors, so I think, you know, hopefully by next month we have a resolution, but I will be asking for an animal shelter advisory committee, so keep in mind, or if you know individuals that are willing to serve, I think there's a lot of input, and I know even Bea has asked for some type of advisory committee, so if you guys think of any names, we'll have the resolution by next month be put out, so we'll work on that to try to get you know, different ideas on capacity, things like that, that I think need to be addressed. So thank you.

And just one other thing now in the month of October, it's a breast cancer awareness month. I reached out to the fire department and we're going to be trying to run through our union, some fundraising and some events to bring back breast cancer awareness, but also to help out, uh, residents within our community that are going through those struggles and assist them in any way we could. And hopefully if there's any involvement that you guys would like, we know we want to do like maybe kiss the pig where they'll bring a little pig and whoever gets the most money donated, we'll do it at a game. So it'll, it'll be something fun for, for all of us. And hopefully the fire chief wins that one.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item is presentations, not to exceed 10 to 15 minutes. We have one presentation this evening by Marley Smith, and I'm not sure if Chaz Robles is here with Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps.

He's watching online.

Welcome.

Good evening. Aloha, everybody. I want to start with some gratitude to you all for giving us some time and space to talk about our organization and how we want to offer our support and hand to this community. It is an immense pleasure and privilege to be sitting in front of you all this evening to share a little bit about our organization and what we do. I am here representing Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps and how we have helped this community and how we continue to help this community and also to extend that offer to the city as well. I do have a presentation here and hopefully it'll provide some context as to why we are here talking to you all today. So Ancestral Lands is about building relationships with nature, work, and community. It is our dedication and effort and work to this space. I will be leading this presentation. I would like to honor my executive director, Chas Robles, who actually reached out to the city to extend some face time to talk about opportunities working alongside you all. Our statement is leading our nations back to ecological and cultural well-being. That includes not only native and aboriginal communities, but traditional communities. And I would like to say that I have lived in this community since 2020. I live within city limits. I am a member of this community. And I know how important traditional values honoring history and our connections to land. This is a very powerful community dedicated to that preservation and protection of our resources, our natural environment, and our city history in itself. And that's what our organization does in a nutshell with many different communities. Conservation Legacy is a branch outside of AmeriCorps. So we do get federal funding through AmeriCorps to run crews and workforce development operations with youth. And these are all the Conservation Legacy organizations that are under Conservation Legacy. For us, I represent Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps. CHAZ is also leading in Conservation Corps of New Mexico. So all of our crews are local to the southwest, and we collaborate heavily with these other organizations, but I'm here representing Ancestral Lands. Just as a brief description of what Conservation Corps do, it brings people together to provide service to the communities that need that support. Our main focus is getting workforce development and youth engagement for environmental issues, often in direct ways that are linked to things like trails work, fuels and fire mitigation, historical and cultural preservation. We focus on providing entry level skills and qualifications for future employment of youth. And youth is a broad spectrum, which we can talk about specifically with Ancestral Lands. But we're talking about individuals who range between 17 years old to 35 years old, depending on the membership that they gain when they gain employment with us. And many of our individuals are AmeriCorps participants. So they do receive a certificate once they complete their hours of employment with us to help them become a civil servant. Our goal is to get our youth valuable skills, not only in this line of work of natural resource management and land management, but also basic life skills like financial literacy, cultural engagement, community engagement, so on and so forth. And so I'm here talking about ancestral lands specifically. And with that, ancestral lands engages indigenous and traditional youth. We are here to provide opportunities to our communities throughout the Southwest and to encourage our participants to honor their relationship to land, whatever that looks like. We are here to provide opportunities for education, for career in protecting heritage, traditions, and culture, as well as break down those barriers of participation and career development that requires education, various levels of employment, and across a wide variety of agencies and organizations, whether it's nonprofit. State, county, federal, tribal, those are the avenues we're trying to get our youth engaged with and opportunities to grow their service within the communities. We do focus specifically on teaching those traditional and indigenous sources and pathways of knowledge when we have them out on the land working. And then we focus our engagement on getting them employment with our partners that we have built relationships with. Our guiding principles is community development, leadership, cultural revitalization, empowerment, and sovereignty. And the reason why I wanted to highlight these guiding principles is because our organization is usually seeking opportunities when a community reaches out to us and is asking for this support. We do not come in and tell you all how to manage your plans. We're here to support you. We're here to provide that manpower on the ground while also providing employment opportunities to the youth of this community to make sure that they are developing those skills and getting good project work done on the ground that is geared towards natural resource protection, management, and preservation of our historical values. And so where Ancestral Lands fits into this bigger spectrum is we are a nonprofit organization. We work and collaborate very closely with various land management agencies, usually tribal and local communities. And this sparks community and environmental action and engagement. So you all can make your projects and your visions a reality on the ground. Um, we treat our cores and crews, um, on the level of professionalism. So our crews operate at that professional level, even though it is workforce development and our goal is to teach them those invaluable skills. That is the longevity that will feed into the longevity of their life and their careers, as well as providing a civil service to their communities. And so just to give you a concept as to where we're located, we have five offices we operate out of predominantly. In 2008, we started out of our office in Acoma, and we expanded to our offices now that are located in Albuquerque, the Zuni, the Pueblo of Zuni, Gallup to serve the Navajo Diné Nation, and all the way into Arizona in Kikots Motzvi Village in Hopi. In these communities we serve a variety of communities throughout the Southwest and specifically throughout the West and then we also have internships called individual placement sites across the nation and we are serving youth through a variety of opportunities to get them experience on the ground when it comes to natural resource and land management. And so what we focus on with our crews is everything that you see here. We are really focusing a lot of our teachings and our trainings towards new processes and land management. So this includes green stormwater infrastructure. This includes low-tech process-based restoration work. trail maintenance, urban and community forestry, fence and range infrastructure construction, which I know are important things to this community and I have also personally have had a hand in when it comes to providing that support for our community here in Vegas. And so these are a few examples of how we have been supporting this community through other partners or in relation to locality where we've operated. So one of our ongoing projects is with the Santa Fe National Forest Pecos Las Vegas Ranger District. We are helping with hazard tree removal out on Forest Service land in the fire scar of the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon fires. We've helped with range monitoring, trails construction, and restoration work that is necessary to protect our water, our resources, and continuing to preserve the historical practices of range grazing. We've also worked on the Jemez Ranger District in a variety of ways, whether that includes tree plantings with our partners at Trees Water People, within the fire scars on that side of the mountain, stream restoration, and noxious weeds control. Other examples are on the Carson National Forest, the Santa Fe County Open Space, the Santa Clara Pueblo, and the Santa Fe Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. As you can see, our crews are very diverse in their ability to support. And a lot of these crews have supported across all five of our organizations, extending as far as Hopi office and as close as Albuquerque office. And so for our crew model, this is our age range. Our age range is demonstrated from 17 to 30 years old. For veterans, it's 35. Our crews operate as a six-people unit. We have two crew leaders, or one crew leader and one assistant crew leader, and four corps members. Examples of our trainings that we provide is wilderness first aid. That is a necessity for all of our members and staff on our crews to have completed. Some of our crews are chainsaw certified. Usually our chainsaw certified operations come from our Hopi office and our Albuquerque office. Safe herbicide handling and application is a mandate for a lot of our crews out of Hopi and Albuquerque. But we have had invasive species removal certifications between our Acoma, Zuni, and Gallup offices. Historical preservation techniques is really important to a lot of our crews and our offices. Healthy communication and community building is a key in our crews ability to be successful as well as for our interns. And then ecological restoration and leadership skills is a priority we teach while our members are going through their seasons and through our crew programs. Another avenue that we have talked about is individual placement. This range is between 18 and 30 years old, 35 for veterans. These are individuals that are AmeriCorps participants and some non-AmeriCorps participants that have internships with a variety of host sites and programs. We have a very good relationship with national parks throughout the nation, and we have interns operating throughout the nation. We also can host IPs at local, state, tribal sites as well. We're currently working with an agreement with the Pueblo of Tezuque to get an intern in place to help them look at what it takes to start a program like ours in their community so they can provide that resource for their youth. and support workforce development. So this is another avenue we've used to support communities in the past, whether it's research and resource assessment, engagement with the communities, and that one-on-one support between a specialist and a unit and an intern. And so these are some of the positive impacts we encourage for our crews when we have them working through our program. Traditional knowledge is key and I know that it's very important to this community because when I was a civil servant, that was something that I needed to be educated on regularly by the local community that I served. Professional development is also key. We want our youth to come through our program and move on into professional careers that is dedicated to civil service and natural resource management. Addressing physical and mental health is a huge part because we know the youth we are serving in our communities and the challenges they may or may not face in their personal lives and what they bring to the table when they're working in our system. So we are very aware of the importance of balancing that professional development and that physical and mental health concerns that come with our members who work through our program. making sure we provide a vast majority of educational opportunities, and then civic engagement. These are the things that make our program successful, and we find a value in a lot of the communities we serve. And so here are some photos and examples. We have many programs outside of our crew-based programs that represent how we serve our community. This is an example of our Farm Corps, which is dedicated to preserving and rematriating farming and seeds. to all of our Pueblo communities, and this is specifically our fields in Acoma. So we are growing food and redistributing that and providing that to our local communities, to our elders, and to our native communities that rely on those traditional food systems to survive and remain healthy. We have a Wood for Life program that is dedicated to getting field wood to elders and native and traditional communities throughout the west. Santa Fe National Forest participates in this work. We have a lot of operations that extend up into Colorado and as far west as Arizona. And then these are examples of our crews creating trails and practicing cultural and historic preservation alongside our partners, both at the Park Service and Forest Service. And then we've worked internally with local communities and to help with projects that they have identified necessary to preserve and protect for their communities. And then we also provide resources for hiking club. We like to run a summer program that allows youth that range between, I believe, 10 to 21 to go and participate in local hiking activities, get our children outside, educated on the landscape, and then actually participate in some of that land management engagement. And we also connect our hiking clubs with the various levels of our programs, whether that's crew-based, farm core, Wood for Life, so on and so forth. And so the reason why we reached out to you all today is because we heard wind or caught wind of your urban forestry management plan. And that is a huge feat. We see this growing need in the communities we serve. And we want to extend our hand to participate in that and provide not only manpower but youth engagement. into this work because we believe that when we get our youth on the ground in their hands in the dirt and in the water to protect and preserve our community it starts there and the longevity of that work will continue with them as they continue to grow in their professional careers. It's also a mentality we want to serve when it comes to those future climate impacts, mitigation, climate change, and that work to mitigate. So I just wanted to say thank you for your time and your energy this afternoon and evening, and I hope we can continue to collaborate.

Thank you, Marlee. You timed that perfectly, I guess.

Thank you.

No, thank you to the governing body. I did have a chance myself. Mr. Marcus, and I thought that, you know, this was a great idea, Mr. Manager. I wanted her to present to the council, and so I guess, Mr. Manager, if you don't mind meeting with her, and then, you know, we'll make a decision as a governing body. I think there's opportunity, you know, specifically to this, you know, the storm drain projects that we, you know, have upcoming, and also parks and different other things that we've talked about, but I think it was important to Mr.. Manager, maybe you guys could continue the conversation if it's the pleasure of the council and and Pleasant plenty of opportunity I just thank you.

I'd like to just make a comment. I you know that the troubling thing about you know the hermit speak Afghanian fire that's Still in the back of my mind is just the canopy the tree canopy that we have in the forest, okay? That would probably provide our community with You know several months of water just having that tree canopy there. Of course, I don't know what's been done up to this point with all that, but I'm always concerned about where we're going with it, and we need that back because that's our water storage. That's something that's needed in our community, and I'd like to see... Where programs like this you know can mend you know some of those those problems that we've had in the futures and that we have moving forward that we can mend those and I think something like this might be Beneficial to our community definitely so anyway, thank you for your presentation very nice. Thank you Thank you

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mrs. Smith. I enjoyed the presentation. It sounds like a great opportunity for both parties. I think the city can really take advantage of it. Anytime we can provide a service, whether it's indirectly or directly for the youth, I think it's great for the community. So thank you very much. I look forward to continued discussion.

Mr. Andrew, go ahead. Mayor and Council, I will definitely meet with you, Marley. It's interesting timing. I just had a call this last week from the Santa Fe National Forest tied to Wood for Elders and the Wood for Life program. Sounds like it could be an immediate opportunity with the forest as well in addition to other possibilities that we'll bring back to Mayor and Council. But I look forward to a potential partnership and working with you.

All right, Ms. Cassandra.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item, our consent agenda. If I may read the three items into the record.

Yes, please.

Item one, request approval of addendum number three to contract 402423 with Stantic Consulting Services for Engineering Services for the Public Works Department. Item two, request approval of addendum number three to contract 402523 with Miller Engineering Consultants Incorporated for Engineering Services for the Public Works Department. And item number three, request approval of addendum number two contract 4143 24 with Ortiz and Samara attorneys at law LLC for City Attorney Services These items read into the record.

What's the pleasure of the council mayor?

Constable Martinez, I will go ahead and move to approve the the consent agenda as read into the to the record Martinus second by councillor Casey roll call I

Councillor Livari?

Yes.

Councillor Martinez?

Yes.

Councillor Pacheco?

Yes.

Councillor Casey? Yes. I have a motion by Councillor Martinez, a second by Councillor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Moving on to our business item, our first business item is conduct a public hearing and request approval of ordinance number 2605 granting an amendment to the City of Las Vegas official zoning map from an R1 single family residential zone to an R2 multifamily residential zone for property located at 1222 and 1226 Second Street, Las Vegas, New Mexico as requested by the City of Las Vegas owner. We have our Community Development and Parks Rec Director, Mr. Lucas Marcus.

At this time, I'd like, I'd ask for a motion to enter into a public hearing.

Mr. Mayor, I move that we enter into a public hearing.

Motion by Councilor Casey, second by Councilman Martinez. Roll call.

Councillor Pacheco?

Yes.

Councillor Casey? Yes. Councillor Levy? Yes. Councillor Martinez? Yes. I have a motion by Councillor Casey, a second by Councillor Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Anyone that's going to be speaking on this item, if you can stand and be sworn in. If it's just you, raise your right hand. Under the penalties of perjury, do you swear that your testimony this evening is the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Thank you.

attended a training last week so I just want to say for the record I was advised or I learned that when we have a public hearing usually just testimony from those you know for or against is the discussion that should take place. Any other discussion or anything like that should be in regular session but with that Mr. Marcus is there anything that besides what you've provided for testimony that we have in our record any additional comments or anything you want to add to that?

The only thing I do want to add is, you know, after speaking with some people in the neighborhood, they do want to say that the drainage has really improved ever since Mr. Lopez cleared out the drainage at the golf course.

So with that, we have no money for or against. Entertain a motion to go back to regular session.

So moved, Mr. Mayor.

A motion by Councillor Casey, second by Councillor Pacheco. Roll call.

Councilor Casey? Yes. Councilor Martinez? Yes. Councilor Levy? Yes. Councilor Pacheco? Yes. I have a motion by Councilor Casey, a second by Councilor Pacheco. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries.

Mr. Mayor, I move that we approve ordinance number 2605, granting an amendment to the City of Las Vegas official zoning map from an R1 single-family residential zone to an R2 multifamily residential zone for property located at 122 and 126 And 1226, sorry, 2nd Street in Las Vegas as requested by the city because the city owns the property.

I have a motion by Councilor Casey, second by Councilman Ulibarri. Roll call.

Councilor Pacheco?

Yes.

Councilor Martinez? Yes. Councilor Casey? Yes. Councilor Ulibarri? Yes. I have a motion by Councilor Casey, a second by Councilor Ulibarri. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries.

I'm very happy this is happening.

I am as well, Councilor.

I am as well. Mr. Mayor, thank you. I just think it's important that we have it on the record. And while I want to have it on the record, the reason that I think it's important that we have the variance on this ordinance is that this is for four townhomes that are planned to be built on that site. So that's why it's going to a multifamily. But I think it's an ideal location. It's near schools, already on a residential street. So We're trying to do our part. We're trying to get some new housing out there, and thanks to all the team involved for making these things happen.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our second item, request approval of out-of-state travel for Sean Saiz-Gomez from Community Development Parks Department to attend the 2027 Municipal Forestry Institute training.

It's a pleasure, Council.

MR. MAYOR, I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE THE OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL FOR SEAN SIZE GOMEZ FROM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO ATTEND THE 2027 MUNICIPAL FORESTRY INSTITUTE TRAINING.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR CASEY, SECOND BY COUNCILMAN MARTINEZ. YOU'RE WELCOME.

COUNCILOR LIVARRE?

YES.

COUNCILOR CASEY? YES. COUNCILOR MARTINEZ?

YES.

COUNCILOR PACHECO?

YES.

I HAVE A MOTION BY COUNCILOR CASEY, A SECOND BY COUNCILOR MARTINEZ. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. MOTION CARRIES.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Thank you, guys.

Moving on to our third business item, request approval of resolution number 2646, adopting the Mayor and Ward Priority Fund policy, establishing uniform procedures for the request, review, administration, procurement, tracking, and reporting of Mayor and Ward Priority Funds. Mr. Mayor and Mr. City Manager.

So with that, I do want to say that it was me that started working on this. I just think that I know we have been doing this award money for three years now, and I think we just needed internal controls on how it's requested. I know I've, in the past, and I'll admit guilt, where I've contacted probably directors or worked with directors and and not really gone to the city manager and I just thought that we needed an internal control to where there's a process that we should follow and then from there I did sit with the finance director and then ultimately at the end with the manager on how this process should work and at the end this is just an internal control policy that I think that we didn't have to ensure that there's proper requests and as you do note in the resolution it does say that the city manager shouldn't have any bias towards, you know, these requests, and I think there's no malintent in, you know, us presenting site. It's more transparency on some of these requests that we put in. So with that, any questions?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have a lot of concerns about some of the parts of this resolution. If you look at page one, The seventh, employer asks, request shall be submitted in writing to the city manager using mayor and ward priority fund request form and shall identify the project or program, public purpose, location applicable, connection to the master plan estimated cost, the amount requested, infrastructure capital outlay improvement plan, and asset management plan. Well, we still don't have a finalized master plan. I've never seen the asset management plan, and if we have one, I would like to have a copy of it so that I can know what you're talking about. If it has to be something that is on the ICIP or related to the ICIP, we would have to wait more than a year to get that project done. And I don't know about what the other counselors have done, but in my case, that money, the ward priority funds, now that you're calling them that, That allocation I have used in the past to have purchased things that are necessary that have come up to me from community members and also from department directors. So for example, The crossing from the Robertson School campus over to the golf course was brought to me by a person that lives in that area that was concerned about people being run over because there's so much heavy traffic on mills and people drive like maniacs on mills every now and then. So I used some of that funding to make sure that we could do something about that. And I contacted Mr. Lopez and I asked him, could you check into that? I never tell anybody to do something. I ask Would you check into that? He very graciously did. And he put up signs that indicate that that is a crossing area. There is now a crosswalk that is painted across that area. And there are lights that are on at night on that area. So that's what I use that money for. I've used that money also for other issues such as... fixing Third Street. We had a petition that was turned in for that, for the cracks that were across several blocks of Third Street. I've used it to buy new lighting fixtures for lights, street lights that are owned by the city in the area of Rosenwald and 11th and 12th Streets. close to the Highlands University campus so that students could feel safe as they were walking to some of the apartments that are available in that area when they're leaving class at night. That money has gone for new playground equipment for the children that live on the east side of Railroad Avenue on Commerce Street, Echo Street, and Garfield and those other cross streets there. SAFE EQUIPMENT. WE'VE BOUGHT LITTLE LIBRARIES SO THAT WE HAVE NINE PARKS THAT HAVE LITTLE LIBRARIES WHERE PEOPLE CAN LEAVE BOOKS FOR PEOPLE TO GET TO. NONE OF THOSE ARE ON THE ICIP. THEY ARE NOT ON THE CITY'S STRATEGIC PLAN. SO I FEEL THAT I, AS THE REPRESENTATIVE OF WARD 3, I have, you know, I should be able to make that choice. And I don't think that it should have to go to somebody else to sign a piece of paper to approve it when they may not understand the necessity or the necessity that is necessary as soon as possible. And so even with the library, some of that money, to redo the electrical work to be able for the sprinklers to work so we don't have our parks people going in at 6 o'clock in the morning and trying to water Carnegie Park, which is huge, by hand. some of that money went to that. So I really do try to pay attention to what is needed, and the directors feel comfortable in asking me, Councilor Casey, you know, would you mind using some of your ALLOTMENT SOME OF YOUR MONEY TO FIX THE SINKING STREET AND SIDEWALKS ON LUTHERAN DRIVE, FOR EXAMPLE. SO NOT EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH ICIP. NOT EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH THE CITY STRATEGIC PLAN. SO THAT LANGUAGE THERE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE REMOVED. because I don't think that that would be beneficial. I mean, if we want something for ICIP, most of the ICIP requests are for like a whole street to be done or... FIXING A BUILDING OR GETTING AN ANIMAL SHELTER, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS, NOT FOR THE LITTLE PROJECTS THAT WE CAN HANDLE WITH THE ALLOTMENT THAT WE GET THAT'S $250,000. THAT DOESN'T GO VERY FAR. AND THEN ON PAGE 2, SECTION 5, MANAGER AUTHORITY, AND PLEASE DO NOT TAKE OFFENSE OVER THIS, MR. CITY MANAGER. IT SAYS THE CITY MANAGER REMAINS RESPONSIBLE FOR STAFF, SUPERVISION, PROCUREMENT, CONTRACTING, SCHEDULING, FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION. If we have to take our request for signature by the city manager, we don't fit into any of those categories. I am not an employee. I am a duly elected official. And so are the rest of you. And to me, that means that the only people that can tell me what to do and the only people who can request things of me are the people who voted for me and who live in Las Vegas and Ward 3. So I object to that language. Section 5. Section 5. And then Section 8. And this kind of relates to Section 5. Chain of command, priority fund requests and related communications shall proceed through the city manager or designee. And I have, I understand that the charter allows the city manager to have a designee to take over his job while he is out of town. And it's going to be, it can be 30 days or less. However, I do not feel comfortable having an employee as a designee who is going to be signing paperwork that deals with money. And the reason I say that is because I'm not saying that anybody here is dishonest, but if somebody makes a mistake and that designee signs the paperwork, then that person is put in legal jeopardy. And that is an issue for me also. Then the attachments that were given to us, Exhibit A, if you look at page four, item number seven, IT SAYS REQUEST PROCESS, REQUEST SHALL BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING TO THE CITY MANAGER USING THE MAYOR AND WARD PRIORITY FUND REQUEST FORM AND SHALL IDENTIFY THE PROJECT OR PROGRAM, PUBLIC PURPOSE, LOCATION IF APPLICABLE, CONNECTION TO THE MASTER PLAN, ESTIMATED COST, AMOUNT REQUESTED, INFRASTRUCTURE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, AND ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN. if we have to do all of that nothing would be done because by the time you wait for uh... what right now we don't have uh... A CITY MASTER PLAN, SO WE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR WHENEVER THAT'S DONE SO WE COULD SQUEEZE IT IN SOMEWHERE. AND THEN IF IT'S AN INFRASTRUCTURE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, THAT GOES TO THE LEGISLATURE AND WE PICK WHAT WE WANT TO HAVE FUNDED THROUGH THE LEGISLATURE. SO THAT LEAVES US OUT THERE TOO. So this is going to make everything more complicated and less effective to provide services that are not super expensive, that aren't going to cost millions of dollars, that we can take care of immediately. And I just want to thank directors that have come to me and said you know counselor casey we have this and this and this going on it's going to cost you know thirty five thousand dollars to finish uh whatever it was for veterans park can we use some of your money and then i say of course you can you know just double check with the finance department and i trust mr madrid and i trust Mr. Chavez that works there and the other people of the finance department to know how much money is left in that ward money that has been allotted for Ward 3. So I don't have a problem with that. I do have a problem through going through all these other permutations just to get something simple like a stop sign put in on a street or having the pavement fixed or the sidewalks that we got on 6th Street and some of the drainage problems that we had on Rosenwald and Friedman and Baca and 6th Street. All of those have been taken care of Through some of some of the money that has been allotted to Ward three. So I have a problem with that and then Item number eight requests process Okay, the mayor funding requests submitted to the city manager by city councillors shall be copied to the mayor and requests submitted by the mayor shall be copied to the mayor Pro Tem and So what about the rest of us? We just stay in the dark? So you talk about transparency and teamwork. This doesn't show any transparency to me at all. And so if there's going to be information that is going to be given to just one counselor because he happens to have the title of Mayor Pro Tem, And no offense to you, Councillor Martinez, but that is an honorary title. It does not entitle him to any special information. And whatever information he gets, I need to get, Councillor Pacheco needs to get, and Councillor Olivarri needs to get it also. So I don't agree with that language at all. And then administrative neutrality. The city manager and staff shall remain impartial. They shall not intentionally encourage, discourage, obstruct, delay, or favor a lawful request because of the requesting elected official, personal, preference, favoritism. Well... I know that there have been a lot of complaints from folks about favoritism from some offices, and I'm not going to go there. But in my case, I have still not even gotten my business cards that I was promised back in February. And when I did get the sample ones, they were incorrect, even after I had already approved the card that I wanted. Luckily, someone else in the city was kind enough to make some for me. Otherwise, I still wouldn't have them. So maybe that language is necessary. And number 11. Chain of command, all requests, modifications, questions, and status communications shall proceed through the city manager or designee. I already mentioned that, and I don't agree with that. And so I don't think that I should have to ask permission of the city manager or his designee to do something for my constituents, for my ward. And if there's a necessity... And if I call the city manager and I say, city manager, we need a street light on the corner of whatever street, Garfield and whatever, Pecos. I don't think I should have to wait until whenever. I think that I should be able to check with the finance director and say, how much money do I have? Do I have enough money to buy a stop sign? Do I have enough money to put in a yield sign someplace else? Do I have enough money to fix the curb that's cracked on whatever street? Then after the city finance director or his deputy tell me, yes, you have $80,000 left in your money, then I can call Mr. Lopez and say, Mr. Lopez, I have a constituent request. Would you please check on that? And if it's a legitimate request and he has time to do it, I know that it's going to be done in a timely manner. And so I don't know why we're going through all of this convoluted stuff

JUST TO KEEP TRACK OF THE MONEY THAT WE'RE SPENDING.

YOU KNOW, I KEEP TRACK OF THE MONEY THAT I HAVE OKAYED TO BE SPENT. SO I KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY I HAVE PRETTY MUCH AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME. AND SO I DON'T KNOW WHY THIS IS EVEN NECESSARY. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE NUMBER 13 ALREADY IS SOMETHING THAT IS ALREADY BEING DONE. The Finance Department shall maintain a separate accounting for the mayor in each ward showing appropriation, approved commitments, encumbrances, expenditures, available balance, and project status. And so I know for a fact that the department directors talk to the finance folks and they say, how much money does Counselor Casey have? Does she have $37,000 to give to the Veterans Park? Does she have money to put in a new light on 12th Street? Does she have enough money to buy a window for someone that reported on Bridge Street? Where is she, and does she have enough money to cover this cost? So I don't know why we have to have something that is so convoluted and so time-consuming and pretty much kind of... To me it makes it sound like we don't know what we're doing as counselors That we don't know that we're just offering money willy-nilly or calling people and saying I want a stop sign on the corner of Fourth Street and whatever You know we don't do that And so to me, this is an insult to me as a counselor. I do my very best to make sure that my constituents get what they need and that they get it as soon as possible. And my constituents don't ask for a whole bunch of stuff. If they have a pothole in their street that's messing up their cars, That's not going to cost $80,000. It's not going to cost a million dollars. That money is used for smaller projects that we know we can afford. Parkview Street behind Walgreens would have never been paved unless if there hadn't been money for me to use for that street to get it fixed because it had been in desperate need of repair. for a long time. And so prolonging a process that can be taken care of, uh, through the departments should not be placed into a resolution that is going to make the process more cumbersome. And, um, I, I just, I cannot support this at all. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. And just for clarification, counselor, I, AGAIN, THESE ARE FUNDS THAT WE BASICALLY HAVE NO INTERNAL POLICIES, NO INTERNAL CONTROLS. AM I CORRECT, MR. MADRID, PRIOR TO THIS?

MR. MAYOR, THIS IS, I BELIEVE, THE ONLY PART OF THE BUDGET THAT IS NOT SUBMITTED WITH ANY TYPE OF PLAN.

OKAY. SO JUST FOR VERIFICATION, COUNCILOR CASEY, ON YOUR WHEREAS, WHERE IT DOES SAY CONNECTION TO MASTER PLAN, I'LL GO AHEAD AND GIVE THAT ONE. change those to, you know, leave that connection to master plan estimated cost, amount requested, infrastructure capital improvement plan. We could strike the rest of that language. I'm good with that. But it's like the language that says that But but I will say and I hate to put directors kind of on the spot here, but we do have a charter We have to follow we should not be contacting in any director because I guarantee if I ask any director ask Arnold I ask Lucas none of them are gonna say no no matter what I asked so I think that you know the whole concept of this was to Just follow a charter if we have a request we submit it the pro tem part of that was continuity right i could die tomorrow and council martinez doesn't know what's going on so that's kind of that was the interest behind it also be included in any information that comes forward I think that kind of puts us in a predicament of rolling quorum, but we could just leave it to me.

If it's an informational piece of paper that says Ward 1, this much money was used for these projects, Ward 2, and so on.

I'll just say this was not intended to disregard any of your authority. I think it's just an internal policy that, If it was ever questioned or audited, do we have an internal control for this money? And that's the intent for this. Again, following structure, following chain of command, we shouldn't be going directly to directors or bypassing the city manager, the city manager. And I'll be the first to admit, I've requested in the past without going to the manager and then when... he has to sign off on it, then it's, you know, I've been asked, well, what was this for? And one of them was the excavator that we requested. I jumped the gun on that. And I'm just saying that we need an internal controls, internal policy to address the ward money. That's all the intent of this.

Internal controls is in finance.

Councillor Pacheco.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate the dialogue, the comments on that. on this resolution. One thing I'll say that did strike me as a bit odd being a new counselor was the individual award money and how it was dispersed. It's something that I'm not used to in terms of the controls we have in place, quite frankly. Now, I see this as, and granted, I think there could be some clean up within the language. I will say that. But I see this as having the council retain our policy making and authority making decision as an elected body and the administering of and the implementation of moves over to the side of the house that it should take place. with, in our case, would be the city manager. And then it goes on down the chain of command. I believe it provides for more accountability, for me in terms of where I spend those designated funds, even though they're under my purview, as well as transparency in the governance process if we report on it in a quarterly fashion within these, within the meetings as it indicates in the document. Well, yes, $250 per councilor doesn't seem like much in today's world. I mean, well, I'll take $250 and put it in my bank account, but that's just jokingly. But that's over a million bucks if we look at it all together. What we're spending all together is almost what we're spending to purchase the Bank of Las Vegas building. So... Altogether it is a a large amount of funds and this is from my time as Prior to being on council. I've seen some things that And I'm just going to use an example of a speed bump I'm not an expert on traffic. I'm not an expert on traffic control or how that should flow but I might get a lot of feed bump that a speed bump is needed and at a particular area. Now, I do not believe that speed bump should be placed because that's what I want as a councillor or that because a certain segment of that neighbourhood may want it. What is our process? What is our policy? Does it require X amount of cars to pass through that area per day, per hour? I think it should be based on data and information when we make those decisions, not just my personal purview. So yes, I think I should be able to administer those funds in a way that assists the ward and increases the quality of life here in the City of Las Vegas, but I think there should be checks and balances. You know, one thing I would like to see within the document, Mr. Mayor, is supporting the document and the intent behind it. I would like to see a written policy or reason for any type of denial. whether that's based on policy, whether that's a legal piece that I'm not aware of, whether it's a financial procurement piece, an operational piece that I may not be aware of. So I think tied into the document, if there's the denial, we should have the written reason why so that we see it's totally an operational piece that meets some standard. And that's the comments I have, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Any other comments?

Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Ulibarri.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Manager.

Tough job. Very tough job. I can tell you one thing. For being where you're at and for every manager that's been here, you've got to go through each ward and see what every ward needs. We need, for capital of the money that we get, we only can spend so much and maybe half a street. AND THE THING IS THAT WE GET CONCERNS FROM OUR RESIDENTS. WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THESE? WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THAT? AND IT TAKES A LOT, MR. MANAGER. IT'S A VERY HARD JOB BECAUSE WE HAVE DIRECTORS OUT THERE LOOKING AT STUFF THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT. RESIDENTS ARE COMING TO US AND ASKING US, WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE?

WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT?

BUT WHEN YOU GET HALF A MILLION DOLLARS OF CAPITAL ALLEY MONEY, THAT'S NOT GOING TO GO TOO FAR. AND THAT'S WHERE YOUR FINANCE DIRECTOR COMES IN AND SEE WHAT HE CAN DO, WHAT YOU AND WHAT HE CAN DO, AND BRING IT TO OUR COUNCIL IN SEAWORK. A LOT OF HELP IN SOME AREAS, BUT WE TRY OUR BEST. AND SO I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR THE WORK THEY'RE DOING, AND WE'LL KEEP ON GOING. THANK YOU.

MR. MAYOR. MR. MARTINEZ. MR. MAYOR, I JUST WANT TO SAY THIS. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT. I KIND OF DO LIKE THE TRACKING OF THE INFORMATION. I DO. I INVITE IT, BECAUSE THAT'S DEFINITELY TRANSPARENCY TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. I'M NOT SAYING THE WORDING IS ALL PERFECT, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE FIXED, ALTERED, WHATEVER IT MIGHT NEED TO BE. BUT I LIKE KNOWING WHERE I'VE SPENT THE MONEY. And I want other generations of councilors to be able to say that was done when that term was taken by Councilman Martinez. The fact is that... I do invite a tracking mechanism like this. I do. I like knowing where the money went. And I like knowing that we spent it wisely, of course. And I'm not going to disagree with anybody here. I think there's common ground everywhere. And I think one of the biggest responsibilities that we have is making sure that that money gets spent wisely and well. And to some degree, you know, Mr. Manager, I think, you know, Councillor Libri makes a point there that it's also good for you to recognize our wards, you know, in that capacity so that we have that priority list. I look at my ward and I see the priority list. I kind of have that basically also. And I want to use that money wisely, of course. But as a city councilor, I do accept the ability to have a tracking mechanism. It's a check and balance system. Maybe some of the wording can be changed. We probably don't even have to agree on it tonight. But I think I want to put a request in for a certain street. I can get that kind of information, or through you, get that kind of information from one of the directors at what cost. $80,000, $100,000 to repair a block of street or two blocks or whatever it might be. But I think it's a good, I think there's some good to it. I like it. I know it doesn't fit well with others also, but common ground needs to be achieved, and that's all we have to do. Thank you.

Thank you. So I want to, you know, in hearing Councillor Casey out, I'm going to make this, I guess, amendment without, you know, change. See how you guys take it. On the whereas, on the first page, removing connection to master plan estimated cost amount requested infrastructure capital improvement plan and asset management plan. Striking that language. Striking the language that pertains to the pro tem on the request process number eight. Number seven, request process, also removing location, if applicable, connection to master plan, estimated cost. Remove that language. And also, and I don't know specifically where the two items are, but remove designee, so specifically just the city manager.

Item 11.

No, it's on item 8, order of designee, chain of command, number 8. On page...

On Section 8, chain of command, remove designee. And I think there was one other item.

Yes, that's page 4, number 11. Chain of command.

Mr. Mayor, can I see you? time. Let me email it to you real quick.

And then I'm... Because if you don't mind reading it, that would be fine for them.

Yes. So I can read it. And this would be just specific to the comments that I made. so I would like wording to be as follows or close to it. Any priority fund request denied or placed on hold by the city manager shall include a written explanation identifying the legal, financial, procurement, operational, safety, staffing, or other administrative basis for the determination. Nothing herein limits the governing body's authority to exercise legislative oversight or take subsequent lawful action as a governing body.

What number is that?

I just want that added in there.

Added where?

And I was thinking we could add that on number nine, administrative review, so that could add part of the denial if it is denied.

And I think my reasoning is, one, it clearly separates some of the operational piece from the policymaking piece, and it increases a bit more of the transparency. So, for example, if I submit something and it's denied and there is a valid reason for the denial, we have a record of that. It's not personal against Councillor Pacheco. It is Councillor Pacheco put something forward that he didn't realize may violate procurement, and that is the reason it's denied. So we have a record, and should I get replaced in the future, the councillor that comes in has a record of that and can learn from that. Right? And the general public can refer to that record and say, okay, the city is managing the finances the correct way.

Mr. Mayor, I'm moved that we table this so that it can be correctly fixed and presented at the next meeting, the first meeting in October.

I have a motion by Councillor Casey. Do I have a second? Second, Monsieur. Second by Councilman Nilevari.

Councillor Pacheco?

No.

Councillor Libari?

Yes.

Councillor Casey? Yes. Councillor Martinez?

I want to go with yes. I think we need to, Mr. Mayor, if I may, I just, I think it's important that we have the document prepared properly, number one. I want the document, and I think it's an important piece, but I just want to make sure that we clear the language and the information that's on it so that we can get to that point. One other point I'd like, I'm sorry, we need to finish that. Go ahead.

I have a motion by Councillor Casey, a second by Councillor Livani. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries.

To table. So I just want to clarify the language that needs to be discussed. Councillor Pacheco had a recommendation I know I had my recommendations of striking some language. That's the language that we'll be fixing. Is that correct?

Correct.

I didn't get what number the language was.

So, I don't mind reading that again, Councillor Pacheco. And what number? My best, and I don't know, maybe Ms. Cassandra, you have a recommendation, but I would suggest that it goes into item... 9, which is administrative review. So basically, under the administrative review, if it's denied, then that's where this would fall, I would think.

Under the policy?

Yes. Under the policy. So I'm going to email that to you right now, so you have the exact language. Would you like me to reread it again, Mr. Mayor? Yeah, for the record. Okay. So what I'm requesting going there, under 9, would be any priority fund request denied or placed on hold by the city manager will include a written explanation identifying the legal, financial, procurement, operational, safety, staffing, or other administrative basis for the determination. Nothing herein limits the governing body's authority to exercise legislative oversight or take subsequent lawful action as a governing body.

With that, Mr. Madrid or Mr. Manager, do you...

I know you heard some of the comments here, but... Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I think your resolution is a good resolution. And I wanted to say on the record, the sections pertaining to ICIP, asset management plan, master plan, we do have an existing master plan in place until the new plan is adopted, so I want to clarify that on the record. And that almost every project that I've seen through the city of Las Vegas... hits one of those pieces. So I just want to say that publicly. The council has adopted and assigned projects like ICIP, for example. You've assigned resources through the council many times tied to projects that were on the ICIP plan. But nothing in that language was absolute in denying your project. So my intent as your manager The CDM manager of the City of Las Vegas is not to deny your projects and your requests and in no way, shape or form to slow down the process associated with getting the projects done. The process and the resolution that I like that the Mayor is bringing forward provides a protocol and a process, a separation of role and responsibility. between the governing body and your legislative authority and my administrative authority as the city manager, tied to the city charter. I would say that a million times, but I respect the resolution. I respect the potential changes, but I wanted to clarify. The asset management plan, Mr. Mayor, Councillor Casey, that's a document Mr. Lopez chartered. several years back, or the city chartered several years back, that basically does a full assessment of all the infrastructure and roads in the city of Las Vegas and tells you, the governing board, here's the challenged areas in the city. It's one of the primary tools Mr. Lopez and our engineers utilize on a regular basis to provide recommendations to you, mayor and council. So nothing, I'll say it again, nothing in that piece is things that the council hasn't taken careful consideration of as you've allocated money through your funding resources. So there's no limitation on a small project or a large project. That's incorrect completely. There's an opportunity for you, the council, to determine exactly where you want the resources and how the resources you want spent. This process provides a mechanism that the mayor is bringing forth to have a protocol and a process that engages myself as the manager, the primary person that you as mayor and council are supposed to talk to relative to requests. My team, this exceptional team of directors, are going to talk to you and we're going to have many conversations. This just cleans the transparency process and the protocol. And like I said, Mayor, I support it. I look forward to the changes that have been recommended. I think the changes sound reasonable. But I look forward to seeing the Mayor and Council consider. And I would say hopefully pass. Thank you, Mayor.

And I think in my reading of that language with the ICIP was... more of a suggestion, not a requirement. That's the way I took it, but I could see what Councillor Casey was on that. Mr. Madrid?

Mayor and Council, to that specific language, I think an if applicable would cure all that in different sections. In general, I think this is a good document because it forces us as directors and manager TO COMMUNICATE. AND I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. IF ONE OF THE COUNCILORS WANTED TO DO SOME STREET LIGHTING FOR A BLOCK THAT'S VERY DARK, IF THAT CAME TO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, WE WOULD SEE, WAIT A MINUTE, WE HAVE BUDGET FOR STREET LIGHTING. THAT DOESN'T NEED TO COME FROM COUNCILOR'S BUDGET. THAT KIND OF THING. I THINK THERE'S A STREET THAT COUNCILMAN MONTOYA PAID FOR A SECTION OF IT FROM HIS MONEY LAST YEAR. AND THIS YEAR WE'RE GETTING MONEY FROM DOT, THAT SAME STREET. SO IT CAN SERVE THAT PURPOSE VERY WELL. AS FAR AS THE CONTROLS, ABSOLUTELY EVERY DOLLAR THAT COMES UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE CITY IS SUBJECT TO THE SAME COMPLIANCE. WHETHER IT'S PRIVATELY DONATED MONEY OR ANYTHING, WHEN IT COMES THROUGH HERE, IT'S SUBJECT TO THE SAME RULES. I LIKE MR. COUNSELOR PACHECO'S SUGGESTION AS FAR AS REASONS FOR REJECTION. THE ONE THING THAT I WOULD ADD, COUNSELOR, IS AN ETHICAL PORTION, BECAUSE LET'S SAY YOU WANTED TO REPLACE THE SIDEWALKS IN FRONT OF YOUR DAUGHTER'S BUSINESS, RED FLAG. THOSE KIND OF THINGS. AND, YES, THERE MAY BE REJECTIONS, BUT I GUARANTEE YOU IF THE REJECTION COMES FROM FINANCE OR ANY OF THE OTHER MANAGEMENT TEAM, WE'LL SAY, WELL, YOU CAN DO THIS, BUT YOU CAN DO THIS OR THIS OR THIS. AND NOT TO PROVIDE ANY ROADBLOCKS, BUT TO PROVIDE ALTERNATIVES AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE IN COMPLIANCE. AND, OF COURSE, THE BEST PART OF IT IS THE TRANSPARENCY.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. NEXT ITEM.

THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. MOVING ON TO EXECUTIVE SESSION.

A MOTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION.

In accordance with the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, NMSA 1978, section 1015-1, H7 matters subject to the attorney client privilege pertaining to threatened or pending litigation in which the public body is or may become a participant. Discussion. on, boy, that's a big word. Yeah. Okay, what Councilor Casey mentioned. And substances.

I have a motion by Councilman Martinez and a second. Second. Second by Councilor Pacheco, local. Councilor anybody?

Councilor Martinez? Yes. Councilor Casey? Yes. Councilor Pacheco? Yes. I have a motion by Councilor Martinez, a second by Councilor Pacheco. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I'll go ahead and move to return back to regular session after coming out of executive session. In accordance with New Mexico Open Meetings Act and MSA 1978 10-15-187, matters subject to the attorney client privilege pertaining to threatened or pending litigation in which the public body is or may become a participant discussion on PFAS pending litigation. No votes were taken in closed session.

Motion by Councillor Martinez, second by Councillor Casey. Roll call.

Councillor Pacheco?

Yes.

Councillor Limari? Yes. Councillor Casey? Yes. Councillor Martinez? Yes. I have a motion by Councillor Martinez, a second by Councillor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries.

Before we adjourn, I want to, too bad everybody left, I should have thought about it sooner, but I wish Councillor Ulibarri an early happy birthday, mañana.

Oh, happy birthday.

So Councillor Casey, I guess it's just us, so if you don't mind starting the happy birthday or mañana.

Chavez is over here, back there.

Son las mañanitas que cantaba el rey David Y que a ti, querido David, te las cantamos así Despierta, mi bien, despierta, mira que amaneció Y a los pajaritos cantan So with that a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn.