Council - Regular Meeting

Yeah, no shit by me.

Trees up.

Thank you. Thank you.

August 12th, Regular City Council Meeting to Order. Ms. Cassandra.

Mayor David Romero.

Here.

Councillor Marvin Martinez.

Present.

Councillor Barbara Casey.

Here.

Councillor Benito Pacheco.

Present.

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

I don't know if we had students in the audience. You guys want to come up and lead us in the pledge? In the audience, we have some students from West Las Vegas. Whenever you guys are ready.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Chancellor Casey, one moment of silence.

Let us pray for the many citizens who have passed away this last month. Let us pray for their eternal repose so that they rest in peace, and let us pray for their families who are mourning them. Also, let us pray that we get rain, which we desperately need so that we can move forward with Some of the projects that we have to make sure that our community has enough water as they need Amen Mr. Mayor approval of the agenda

I know we have some students here, and I was just wondering if we could move up that item to right after the presentations, if possible. And I don't know if there's any other recommendations, Mr. Manager's?

Mayor, I'd like to make some comments relative to the courthouse as well as the museum. If I could do that after the mayor and council reports or after your report, whatever you prefer.

We'll include that in my report.

Excellent.

So with that, recommended changes to move up the MOU with West Las Vegas. What's the pleasure of the council?

Mayor, I'll go ahead and...

SECOND. MOTION BY COUNSELOR MARTINEZ. SECOND BY COUNCILMAN PACHECO. ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. THOSE AGAINST? THE AYES HAVE IT.

THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. MOVING ON TO OUR PUBLIC INPUT. WE HAVE ONE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC INPUT THIS EVENING, MR. LAWRENCE QUINTANA, SPEAKING ON LODGER'S TEXT.

GOOD EVENING, MR. QUINTANA. GOOD EVENING.

I JUST WANTED TO thanks to the council and the tax credit board for all their support that they've given us. However, I have one concern about a recent issue. We made an application for lodger's tax and we went through the whole process. And one of the reasons why, last year we had an awards banquet at the Plaza Hotel. And we were able to fill that hotel with GUESTS FROM ALBUQUERQUE. WE HAD PEOPLE FROM ARIZONA THAT WERE UNDER DODGING BECAUSE THEY WERE BEING RECOGNIZED FOR BUILDING OUT IN OCOTE. AND WE HAD PEOPLE SITTING AT MY TABLE THAT WERE FROM TEXAS. SO WE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM OUT OF TOWN THAT WERE OCCUPYING THE FACILITY. WE WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS BECAUSE I HAD A FEW BOARD MEMBERS FROM LODGER'S TAX SAY WHY DON'T YOU APPLY FOR LODGER'S TAX. I SAID, WE'LL CONSIDER IT. WE WILL LOOK AT DOING THAT. AND SO, OF COURSE, WE HAVE STAFF THAT HAS TO WORK ON APPLICATIONS, DO YOUR VIEWS, COME UP WITH STATEMENTS. LODGER'S TAX IS A LOT MORE THAN JUST CHECKING BOXES NOW. IT'S ABOUT RESEARCH FOR QUOTES, DIFFERENT THINGS BEFORE YOU COME TO LODGER'S TAX. THE LODGER'S TAX BOARD APPROVED IT. THEY SAID, THEY ASKED A LOT OF TOUGH QUESTIONS. THEY SAID, WHAT'S THE RATIONALE BETWEEN THAT? WE ARE DOING THIS BASED ON EVIDENCE THAT and filled heads for beds for this event because we're trying to recognize people like Netflix and other people that come from out of town and actually come to this awards banquet. And so I was just concerned that it was tabled without us presenting it to this city council because I trust that our presentation to you after going through that whole process SPEAK ON BEHALF OF WHAT WE JUST MADE APPLICATION FOR. AND I RESPECT THE CITY COUNCIL. IF THEY SAY NO, WE THINK THAT THAT'S NOT A VALID REASON, THEN I WOULD WALK AWAY AND SAY THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. BUT TO JUST SHORT THAT WE DON'T HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY, I DON'T THINK THAT THE PROCESS IS GIVEN DUE PROCESS AND THAT NOT ALL THE FACTS ARE BEING ABLE TO PRESENT TO YOU AND ALLOW YOU TO MAKE THE DECISIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our mayor's appointments, reports, recognitions, and proclamations.

Thank you. So I'll go ahead and start just real quick. Mr. Marcus, if you don't mind coming up. I know Mr. Marcus has done an excellent job, and his position is, well, I know he has a couple of departments, but specifically solid waste. And I know that over last year we had individual ward cleanups. But what's happened this year is we know that when we had the individual ones, we had other wards coming in. So what we thought might work a little better is having two wards combined. So with that, Mr. Marcus, I'll turn it over to you on how we would figure how the two wards would work out per week.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor. Council, good evening, everybody. Thank you for having me here and giving me an opportunity to present. on what's taking place for the Clean Up By Wards. So of course last year, like Mayor Romero mentioned, what we did do is we actually had the Clean Up By Wards as all of you guys were present. One of the biggest things of concern was of course we do have a lot of events that has been taking place specifically this year in regards towards solid waste. Now one of the things that we were putting together is we don't wanna not have the Clean Up By Wards. I think that's huge for our community. More importantly, it's huge for us on being able to demonstrate what we're trying to do moving forward as far as helping out beautify our community. So with strategically thinking and planning moving forward, what would be the least amount as to the biggest hit that solid waste takes during these type of events? And of course, as you all know, when we do have the amnesty days, we take a hit significantly, not only to the budget, overtime, our equipment, and more importantly, the employees of the Southwest Division. So what we wanted to do is still have the cleanup events, the cleanup by wards, but versus having it every weekend, we're thinking of having it the second week of September and the last week of September. But with doing that, is combining, let's just say I actually have the names right here written out by council member and ward to where we have the mayor possibly pick out These names, we pick out the first two. We'll do the first weekend of September, and then we'll do actually the first Saturday, the Saturday of the second September, and then the fourth Saturday as well with the other two members if that's fine with you guys.

So with that, we'll go ahead and let Councillor Casey do the first draw. Thank you.

So let me just kind of fold up these. The name's already done. I'm just going to kind of put them into the envelope if you guys want, and we'll have Ms. Casey pick first.

I think this was thoughtful and more fairness. I know as a Ward 4 member, it's always been Ward 3 and 4. I'm going to close my eyes. Maybe there's a different change here in this setup. SO THIS IS FOR THE FIRST WEEK IN SEPTEMBER. SECOND. OR SECOND?

WARD FOUR.

OKAY. COUNCILOR PUDDLE. YOU GET TO CHOOSE ME, HUH?

OKAY.

I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO CHOOSE, HUH?

HOPEFULLY I PICK MYSELF. WARD TWO. ALL RIGHT.

What we could do moving forward. We'll get all the details planned out accordingly. We'll get a course with Amanda. We'll put out PSAs. We'll start getting the PSAs ready to where we get in communication with all of you. Ms. Casey, Mr. Martinez, you guys will do the second Saturday of September. Councilman Olivari, Councilman Pacheco, you guys will do the last one of September.

Okay, so I guess just an example when you try for too much democracy sometimes things just fall in place the way they're supposed to Thank you with the other part of my With my report. I just wanted to announce to the council This past weekend Friday Saturday and Sunday. I was participating in a 2026 public leadership certificate program and It's between the elected officials of Protect America and the University of San Francisco. Great experience. There was leaders from Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Brazil. Coming to the United States, there was Florida, Maine, Rhode Island, New York, Arizona. I was the only one from New Mexico. So part of this program is... Of course, you know, leadership development. But the second part to this is we were divided. There was 36 of us from over 200 applicants across the nation that put in for this. Thirty-six, I think it was finally 40 with other individuals that were part of the program, divided into five different groups. And what our next task on this is going to be will be each one of our groups is working on a policy that, you know, is affecting all over. not only the United States, but the world. And part of the policy team that I'm going to be working on pertaining to AI and data centers, basically we're going to be developing best practices for all the communities that are looking into this, the pros, the cons, looking at Bill of Rights, what communities should be looking for and is it going to affect, for those that have limited resources, for instance, water, is there other things that, so it's just a policy framework that will be Actually, it's a competition, so out of the teams that were made up, there will be one policy that will be chosen, and that policy will be funded through the organization. So that's going to be a fun opportunity, and I'm excited to be a part of that because policy that's going to affect not only here but also worldwide is going to be something huge. So I just wanted to kind of bring up to par on that, what happened there. Through the past month, me, the city manager, DOT, We did meet with, I know, a big art project that's been proposed by Mr. Joseph Baca from KFUN. So we went over the requirements that are required through DOT. So it's something that I know we all each have our award money. That's something that I'm really looking forward to working on and completing this year within our award money. But there's some steps we have, some hurdles that we have to go through, application process through DOT. I wanted to bring that. And again, we also attended, I know myself, Councillor Martinez, Councillor Pacheco attended the Ransom Canyon screening. And I know we have Mr. Rogers here in the audience. There's a nice art project there on Railroad Avenue that was well attended by the community between the Las Vegas Arts Council, Main Street of Las Vegas, and the city partnership. So that was an awesome event. And thank you to Ms. Salas for putting that out. So that's my update for this month. Councilor's report.

Mayor, thank you.

Mr. Mayor, you do have an appointment. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Mr. Manager, go ahead on the update.

I'll go ahead and defer to your appointment, and then I can do it after that.

Okay. So my appointment for this month is Mr. Dan Brown. I know that we're trying to get that Keep America Beautiful Advisory Committee back in order. Again, one of the limited individuals that's willing to serve. So I just put his name up because I think this is only the second individual that is put in for that. So with that, I make a recommendation to appoint Dan Brown to the KAB committee.

Mayor, I move that we approve the appointment of Dan Brown to the Keeper-Morse Local Advisory Committee.

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

Councillor Martinez?

Yes.

Councillor Pacheco?

Yes.

Councillor Casey? Yes. Councillor Livari? Yes. I have a motion by Councillor Casey, a second by Councillor Livari. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Motion carries.

No problem. Mayor and Councillor, I sent you guys a brief note this morning that we were looking into some matters at the museum as well as the courthouse. And so I wanted to provide a little background before I give a little bit of information, and then there'll be more information to come next week in my manager's report as well. But I also wanted to make note on the record these matters and provide some of the background, like I said, to it. When I started just a little bit over a year ago, I had individual meetings with directors, And I also had some discussion with the judge associated with his court and the things that were happening in his court to better get an understanding of the courthouse itself. One of the discussions that took place was we were going to continue to look at the issues at the court, but that he raised that there had been discussions over I'll say decades associated with things and repairs and potential improvements to the municipal court. But in his words, there was always other emergent needs that the city had that came up that put the city in the bind. And there was resources that were in place that were lost. The fires happened, COVID, many other variables. But one of the things that I said was, well, Judge, it's going to be important that I get to your courthouse and see what your courthouse is for my own eyes. So, Mr. Marquez, I'll point to him and let you know, we had code enforcement matters that Mr. Marquez had said, Mr. Manager, we have some coming up. It was last Thursday. And they were matters that actual council and other community members had brought up in regards to the process and function to basically take care of things. And so I told Mr. Seitz... Let's go to court. Let's go with Mr. Marcus and your whole team, your entire code enforcement team, so I could see for myself the process that takes place in the court. And so I went to court, and I'll tell you unequivocally, As I was walking into the building, the very historic building, I could see how there were some maintenance matters associated with that court that were deferred, to say the least. And I could also see, once I got into the actual courtroom, that there too was... deferred maintenance that we needed to work on and address. And so subsequent to that particular visit, I had the opportunity to start to look at the past documents and begin to ask questions and get more feedback from all of the key leadership in the city of Las Vegas. And over the last several days, today being the most aggressive discussions and analysis, I received a lot of historical frameworks as to not only the courthouse, and I'll say this piece, but in addition to the courthouse, from the onset of me walking through the door, Ms. Juntafoya-Cordova has also articulated on the museum side of the equation needs for deferred maintenance associated with the facility. I had several weeks before that had the opportunity to go into the museum myself and also visibly acknowledge some of those deferred maintenance items as well. In addition to those deferred maintenance items, there's also accessibility problems with the court, plain and simple. And so we have a situation where we need to work on those accessibility issues for appropriate access into that particular facility. So these are a few of the things that we've begun to pull documents. I forwarded some assessments that were done back in 2022 of the facility that dive deeper into some of the recommendations that are tied to the museum as well as municipal court. And additionally, we met internally as an entire team, our fire department, our police department, our community development department. key leadership to look at the reviews and inspections, if you will, that have been done internally. And so it's all that semblance of information that we're now going through. Deputy Chief Duran has also been part of that equation. And so they're putting together the key components that we need to analyze. And they're also going to put together along with me some recommendations moving forward. And so the other thing I wanted to give Mr. Marcus the opportunity to comment on is we have our normal ordinances on the books associated with health and safety matters and emergent needs. But we also have really specific ordinances that tie to historic buildings and work therein. That particular building falls under section 200-29A. There's a piece, but it's tied to the historic building components. I just want you, if you would, Mr. Marcus, talk just a little bit briefly because we're going to be having a follow-up at next week's meeting. Talk a little bit about that particular ordinance and and what it does and what we're evaluating as we make recommendations to do things that are appropriate for the city.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Mayor, Council, yes, Mr. City Manager is correct. We do have our ordinances in place that allow us to determine if there's a hazard and a health issue with the historical building and able to act quickly. That means if we have to go Before even going to a board, as long as we advise the chair, we could go ahead and move forward in repairing buildings. Of course, we always follow our order of duty with the SHPO department to make sure that they know what we're doing 100% of the way. But it is in there in 200-29 and also 200-30 that gives the community development director and the city manager the authority to go ahead and make those determinations whether we feel that this building is a health and safety issue. Mr. City Manager is correct. There's a lot of issues at the courthouse as well as the museum. ADA compliance is a big thing that we look at. And just a historical fact, Mr. Morris also says that this was on the newspaper. I remember this happening as well, where the judge himself had to have court sessions outside because people can't go into the courthouse with a wheelchair. So that's recognized. I'm really glad that I invited City Manager that day. he saw the conditions of that courthouse and the potential for lots of human life in there.

So, Mayor and Council, The staff collectively across every department has been very responsive and nimble and we will be making some decisions and also recommendations short-term, mid-term, long-term. The judge has been very responsible and very accommodating in providing information and feedback and we will be in direct communication with him as well in addition to Mayor and Council and the public to make sure that as we move through recommendations and work that we do so in a transparent and open manner. And so I wanted to make those comments and let you know there'll be more to come. And that's all I have right now, Mr. Mayor and Council.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our Councilor's reports.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Manager. That building, the courthouse has been there for ages. A lot of time, our commissioners, our San Miguel commissioners did a very good job on keeping that place up. Just to kind of think of replacing that thing or putting it somewhere else, it's impossible because it's going to cost a lot of money. Our commissioners, our San Miguel commissioners are doing a very good job on that building. A building needs a little bit of work. We can understand that. I think code enforcement or public works, whoever is looking at that, they might need some hands that need to be taken care of. I think they haven't seen that building I say for some years.

If I could, Councillor, and my apology if I wasn't clear, the court that I'm speaking to is our municipal court that our Judge Trujillo presides in and our Roughrider Museum. So this is not pertaining to the county.

You're talking about the upstairs, right?

Yeah, but our municipal court, the city of Las Vegas.

That's an old building. I say it's an old building. And to Reverend Nader, you might have some ideas to change it a little bit, but that building's been there forever and ever. We can work on it, Mr. Manager, or see what we can do to make it a little more efficient or something, I'm sure.

It's been there forever. The public here, the Semigal,

Our citizens, our Semigal County or whatever, is real happy about that, but if it needs a little bit of work, we need to take care of it. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think you covered a lot of the updates in terms of some of the events that we were at, but I want to say that Ransom Canyon evening was well attended. It was a Good event for the city and, you know, a lot of good publicity. I'll say that same night that the initiative with Main Street Las Vegas and the Arts Council, also the Highlands University Media Arts that put together some great art and some great graphics that we'll use for that area was very well attended. I think that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of things that are happening in the community and things that we can partner on and be proud of in terms of what we're presenting as citizens of Las Vegas. The other piece that I did want to mention as an update, I've received a lot of questions, and I just want this to be on the record, regarding the construction on Williams Drive. And there's a lot of perception that that is a city job. And I want to be clear for the listening public and for all those in the audience, that is a county job. And that part of Williams is part of the county. There is a part of Williams Drive that is part of Ward 2 and is within city limits. The piece that's receiving the update and having the construction done is county property. We have the same matter that happens on Rua Celeste. There's no construction going on there. But that's a piecemeal area as well as across the road there. And I think it's off of H Street. There's another residential street that's actually county between two city streets. So that's an ongoing challenge. I know it's caused issues in terms of emergency services, things of that nature. Those are things that we're working on. One of the other events that I was a part of over the last month was a meeting on food security in the region that involved a number of individuals from the city, the county, and some state officials. Those conversations are ongoing, and we want to make sure that we take care of our citizens and those in need, and we're putting together ideas of how we can do that with locally sourced, not just produce, but beef and other types of agriculture from the area. So that's my update for now, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Kesey.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don't know where to begin here. First of all, I want to thank the street department for the work that they've been doing. We have work already started on Commerce Street, which makes me very happy, and I'm sure it makes the residents that live on Commerce very happy also. The Third Street work has started, and I got nice pictures from Mr. Lopez, and I appreciate that. And I know that we're waiting on a cost estimate to get the remaining work done, and you'll let us know when that ends. I also want to follow up on Veterans Park. AND THE ADDITIONAL MONEY THAT IS NEEDED FOR THAT, AND THAT WILL BE COMING OUT OF MY ALLOCATION. AND ALSO THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY PARK, THAT WILL ALSO BE COMING OUT OF MY ALLOCATION TO PUT IN NEW ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM IS WORKING AND EVERYTHING CAN BE FIXED. This last weekend, I attended a health care forum in Sapeyo, and city manager and his partner Doris were there, which was a good thing. And so we had a lot of discussion from people who are rather frustrated for the lack of services in that area. And pretty much everybody said that they were happy with our ambulance service, however, We don't have an ambulance post in that area. They have to drive from here all the way over there. And the fastest you can make it from here to the Sapeyo Fire Station or wherever the person that needs help can get there is maybe 15 minutes and you're driving like a maniac or it takes a little bit longer. And so those were some of the issues that came up and I'm sure that they'll be meeting again. Last night, I attended a meeting sponsored by the Democratic Party. It wasn't a political meeting. It was a meeting regarding the issues that have occurred at Highlands University. It was very interesting to listen to what the representatives from Highlands had to say. However, the one thing before the meeting started, there were a lot of people there that I did not know. And one person came up to me, a community member, and I don't know the person's name. But he mentioned that there were some issues that had occurred at his home in Old Town. And they were caused by the city. And the city has never corrected the damage. And he said, I don't have the money to fix the damage.

And I don't want to sue the city, but I don't know if I'm going to have any other alternative but to find an attorney that's willing to represent us to find out what can be done.

He didn't give me any more information than that. So I would like to request of the city manager if he can give us a list of. The number of suit. I don't want names. I don't want addresses. I just want to know the number of suits currently against the city. How many? How long have they been there? And who is dealing with them? Because I'm sure that from. What the gentleman told me? The attorneys for the city at that time are no longer here so You know I would like to know what we can do to maybe help people that are still struggling And if it was truly a city caused issue Then we need to do what we can to address it if it's adequate or appropriate at that so okay And last but not least, Mr. City Manager, I'm very pleased that you did register for the International City Managers Association training. And I just have some questions for you that maybe you can report on for next week. Have you completed the online assessment? And I think you said you had already done that. And then have you sent in your professional development plan? Or is that still in process?

Mayor, Councilor, I could provide a briefing. I've done all the components for them to consider. My credentialing is showing 100% complete for their review process that takes a few months.

Because they have like a four-step process that you have to go through in order just to get into the program. And so after that, I think you have to... They have a whole list of six other things that you have to do just to, you know, get going in the program. So if you could keep us up with what's happening there. I'm not saying every time that we have a city council meeting, but maybe, you know, every other month or every two or three months so that we know where you are in the process. I would appreciate that very much.

Absolutely. Will do.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. That's all.

Thank you. And I just want to, I think it's in fairness, this individual that you're speaking to, I know is a professor at Highlands. He did file a tort claim. That tort claim was rejected, and that's handled through the insurance fund.

So just to brief you kind of publicly.

Or they didn't feel that it was. So just to give you an update. So as far as attorneys not being around, that's handled through the insurance fund. And maybe we can get an update from maybe Des to give that. Mr. Manager?

If I could, Mayor, Councillor Casey, I did want to note on the record on Saturday, Chief Spann was also present throughout the duration of that summit as well. And it was good information, and I just want to say on the record that we work through AMR, and it's a joint contract between San Miguel County and the city, and San Miguel County is the fiscal agent for that contract, but it's a dual contract serving both the city limits and the county. The chief, Chief Spann, did make some good comments on the... that particular aspect and noted some important pieces that the city has done associated with that particular contract. So I just wanted to note that on the record.

Thank you for bringing that up because it just slipped my mind. So he did do a really good job of explaining how things worked and why things were the way they were. So it was very good to have him there.

Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. I just kind of want to let the general public know that, of course, 6th Street is an item that we've, it's a project that's currently being in the works right now. And, you know, of course, we're trying to get that taken care of. That's kind of a joint effort between the mayor and myself getting that street done. So that's a good project. Another one of the projects that's close to completion would be the Crestone Circle project. So that one's pretty close to being also finished as well. And, you know, again, Councillor Casey mentioned Commerce Street. That's another big project. in the works, and hopefully we get the second phase of funding for next year to make sure that we continue that streak. One of the things I wanted to bring up also was, you know, for the past several months, it's been brought to council and, you know, the general public in our community that that we continue to do well in Vegas because of the funding that we receive, whether it be grants funding or any kind of funding that's provided by either state, TPO, whatever funding it might be. And I know that Morris also agrees on this, that he's very transparent about where this money comes from and how it gets here. And a lot of the funding that shows up in our community is grants that are written for. And a big piece for me is we're not having to use city funds to do any of those projects, and that's a good thing. Although we've also, you guys have probably heard or mentioned, there's been a possible absence or Maybe he will completely go away from working with the city. That would be our grant writer, Robert Archuleta. Of course, I'm not picking sides or anything like that, but those are big shoes to fill moving forward. We have a lot of projects that are on the table right now, a lot of projects that we'd like to see come to a complete... come to a complete, you know, where they end complete, and we make sure that those projects are done right. And then, of course, projects that are unknown and unseen. So whatever we do moving forward, like I said, we want to be transparent to the general public. It's really important, but it's also important for us as councillors to understand the direction that we have going as well. So Again, I just, I don't know where that's going, and maybe it's just possible absence. I'm not sure where that's headed. All I can say is that we need somebody to fill those shoes if Mr. Archuleta is not going to continue with us, and it's going to be a hard fill because he's one of our local people here in town. So aside from everything else, I just want to make sure that we're aware that we got work to do if that's the case, so. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. I'd like to add to what Councillor Martinez has said about Mr. Archuleta. Mr. Archuleta has not just university learning. He is very, very, very cognizant of the needs of the city. He loves Las Vegas. He would love to continue to work, but I guess there have been some issues that have come across that have made some things difficult for him. And he doesn't feel like he is... able to do the work in the way that he would like to get it done. And Mr. Archuleta is meticulous. Everything he does is pure perfection, and I'm not exaggerating. He makes no mistakes. He knows the budget. He knows the different departments. He knows state law. He knows procurement law. He is an excellent grant writer, and he doesn't let any grants slip by him. And losing him would be not only a personal loss to all of us here, but a tragic loss to the city of Las Vegas. And I know people are saying, oh, she's exaggerating. I'm not. He is absolutely the most remarkable grant writer that I have ever, ever worked with. And I've worked with a lot of them through the different school districts that I've been in, the different positions that I've been in at the university and other places. So I am very concerned. And I hope that we do everything that we can to accommodate him and to encourage him to please stay with us. Because I don't know what we would do without him. And he does the type of work that he can... He can bring it all in, but I don't know of anybody in this city that can pick up where he left off because he is that good. And I know that he can probably find another place where he can write grants for, but we need him here. And I hope that we can convince him to stay, not leave, and to continue to work for the city that he loves. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. And I just, uh, I know going back to my notes and I apologize for bringing this, but, but I do want to let the council know, uh, about two and a half years ago, we started with our ward money and I just, uh, one thing that I think that we need to, To follow is, you know, just there's some internal controls that we need to put mechanisms on how funding is requested. And so I just want to give you kind of an update. I know I spoke with Morris. We're working on how we could lay out a resolution to properly request those funds instead of directly going online. through directors. So there's something that it's great that we have that, but I think there's internal controls that we need to tie up in order for those to happen. So I was hoping that I'd have it for next week's meeting, but I'm not going to be able to. So just, you know, just heads up, September's coming up and I'll have that so we could all discuss. And moving forward on our, I know that, you know, in the past requesting of You know, those funds and how it's allocated, sometimes directors don't know. And I just think that we need to shore up on how that process is done because I think we've missed some steps on how that's done. So just kind of a heads up moving forward that we're going to tie those loose nuts up. Mr. Pacheco.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I did forget to note a couple of things. I just wanted to note the work that's occurred on Mountain View on the road. I appreciate the city repairs. I know our community and our residents in that area do appreciate that work also. I also do want to recognize and mention to the public that we have some new water tanks that are going up at the water treatment plant that will be part of the update. So thank you, Travis, for coordinating. Mr. Manager for coordinating. We're in process. We'll have some big things happening here with that plant soon. I think we'll have some public events starting in September. I also want to mention to the public that we have an RFP out for water rights ongoing. So if you know someone, if you are someone that's looking to sell water rights to the city, We're here. We're willing to come to the table and pay market value for what those rights are and secure the long-term future of water for this community. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item is our finance report. We have our finance director, Mr. Morris Madrid.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. THE JULY REPORT IS ALWAYS THE BEST AND EASIEST ONE TO GIVE BECAUSE WE HAVE BRAND NEW BUDGETS AND NOBODY SPENT ANY MONEY, AND OUR FINANCIAL POSITION IS GREAT, ALWAYS IN JULY.

I haven't gotten all the requests that we have, have you?

Yeah, but they haven't all been approved. I only want to make a couple of, just one notation on the report. You see some negative numbers. We have charges from prior years that were paid in July. We charge them back to the prior fiscal year, but we don't do it until we have one collective accrual entry We show to the auditors before we do so Well, it's unusual to see it's not unusual that it occurs and that's where those come from So the the report is very mundane I do want to inform you of a couple of other things we did upload our FY 27 budget on time by the deadline on DFA system and The auditors have started their fieldwork. They spent a day here last week The main purpose is to collect samples So they can come back and test our documents for the samples that they selected in cash receipts cash disbursements Fixed asset additions and deletions all those kinds of things so that we're actually proceeding ahead of schedule on this year's audit and We don't anticipate any major issues. The last thing that I wanted to announce is we do have a finance committee meeting next week. And since we have a new committee and we expect our level of activity to be a little less than it has been the last few months, one of the things I'm going to have on the agenda is just open discussion. Any item, any concern, We'll try and determine some priorities for the committee. We want a lot more input and advice from them. It's bigger. We have more experts. And we don't always see the obvious. And I'll show you one, the format of our report. It's a concern to some of our committee members, and it could be better. So that'll be one of the things that we'll discuss. Other than that, it's business as usual in finance, and I stand for any questions.

Just one comment. Mr. Madrid, first of all, thank you. And I know you weren't punished when I appointed nine members to that finance committee, but I think those nine members are community members that have a background in finance, know what to look for. Well, seven, and then we have two counselors, so... I think a lot of oversight is going to be happening in that committee, which is going to help when things get to us. A lot of discussion. I've been able to see those meetings. I feel bad for you sometimes, but at the end, I think the public should feel happy that the extra scrutiny is happening within our financial information that we're putting, the money that's being spent, the accountability, and every one of those individuals has some responsibility some years of experience in, in, in finance. So I think that's something that I think we need to be proud of, even though I know you sit there and some of your staff probably cringe, you know, and some of the questions, but I think at the end of the day, you know, they're doing what, uh, you know, what, what, what the intent of a finance committee is, and they're not just rubber stamps. And I thank you for, you know, having to put up with that, uh, might need some hazardous pay, Mr. Manager for Mr. Madrid, but, uh, you know, there's some good question and he's sticking through it. I think, uh, Those finance committees with Mr. Witters on there is probably more grilling than what we are up here.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to share something that Mr. Witters and I shared right before the meeting. And one thing that we did say is we can disagree on anything and still get along professionally. And I use the analogy of I'm going to date myself. There was a cartoon with a hound dog and a cat or the rooster, I'm not sure, They would clock in every morning and fight all day and then clock out and go have dinner together. And that's the relationship that we have with the committee. And we welcome the questions. We provide answers based on documents. And documents don't lie. So we welcome the transparency. Having sat in your seat, I appreciate it too.

Mr. Manager?

I say, I say, I say. I'm also familiar with those particular cartoons. But I just wanted to articulate that process, procedure, protocol, we have made some augmentations. There's more to come that need to be in place. And Mr. Madrid and I have been in constant communication, as have many of the staff, all the leadership staff. will continue even though I make some folks cringe over some of that, but that is to protect the interest of the Charter and state law. And I will just say that unequivocally, I appreciate the work of the Finance Director and the Finance Committee And I look forward to working in tandem with him to take recommendations through Finance Committee and then ultimately to the Mayor and Council for review and approval. Thank you.

Mr.

Manager, one last question. September, we'll be expecting that bar for those two employees in Postworks? Okay. Yes. Thank you.

Councilors? Anybody? Mr. Manager and Mr. Director, where are we at with the annual results? As far as funding, I need to know what we're going to put in. Are we talking about that, Mr. Manager, about an animal shelter?

Yeah, Mayor and Councilor, we had a presentation some meetings back, but I'm working with Chief Marquez as well as Bea, and in the coming meetings we're going to be bringing some feedback and some recommendations for consideration by Mayor and Council for direction. So we are still working on the animal shelter. We don't have all the funding mechanisms in place, but we are working through potential phase design of an animal shelter. And like I said, we'll be bringing some feedback and more recommendations in the coming months. Fair to say, Chief?

Yes, sir. Thank you.

Councilman, any other questions? Thank you, Mr. Madrid.

Mr. Mayor, moving on to our next item, approval of minutes for July 15th, 2026.

What's the pleasure of the council?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And every now and then I read something in the minutes that makes me chuckle. And this set of minutes had something that made me chuckle. And I know that we have a new person. And listening to a recording and trying to type the minutes is a nightmare. I mean, I've done it myself, and it's the most difficult thing you can ever want to do. And so one sentence in part said, the new system is going to help the city with polishing the water. And I thought, polishing the water? How do you polish water? It's supposed to be purifying the water. No? Is that polishing? Is it really polishing?

Terminology is polishing the water.

Okay, so that was actually said? Yes, ma'am. Okay, so I'm glad that we can get that straightened out because sometimes... When we speak, the microphone doesn't pick up what we say exactly, and so sometimes we get odd words coming in, but I did laugh at that because I thought, how did you polish water? And I obviously did not pick that up when you said it, Mr. Martinez, but... I'm glad that I brought it up so that now it can stay as stated. Thank you. And with that, Mr. Mayor, I move approval of the minutes.

I can say I'm with you without polishing. A motion by Councillor Casey. Do I have a second?

I need to polish my eyeballs.

Second by Councillor Martinez. Councillor Rocco?

Councillor anybody?

Yes.

Councillor Martinez?

Yes.

Councillor Pacheco? Yes.

Yes.

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

I'm going to go a little off cuff here. Ms. Cassandra, do you mind? I know you've got a new employee there, and I know I've had some discussion with you. Could you talk about your new employee, if you don't mind?

Certainly, Mayor. We're very happy to have Angela Lopez with us. She's our administrative assistant, and she's doing exceptionally well. I mean, she's been with the city for a little while, but she moved over to our department, and we're so happy to have her.

Thank you.

Next item is presentations, not to exceed 10 to 15 minutes. We have our presentation by Tim Hageman, Economic Development Department Regional Rep. And we were going to have our Deputy Secretary, Isaac Romero, but he cannot make it. And so Mr. Hageman is giving an update on economic development.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Councilor, staff. My name is Tim Hageman. I work for the Secretary Black, and my office is in Mora. Tonight, I want to talk about the site readiness program that Deputy Secretary Isaac Romero is heading right now. And I'm going to go over the report with you. I've got three slides before I get to that point. I did get a chance to attend David Rogers' placemaking project, and I took a picture of from the Rough Riders antiques and highlighted your investment in new lighting in the railroad district. So I want to thank you for that and also applying through our Main Street program and participating in our arts and cultural program. So as we look at investment in In Las Vegas, I want to thank Lucas for registering for the Governor's Economic Development Summit coming up on September 2nd and 3rd. And we also have a film conference that Friday. So you might want to stay another day and participate with your film liaison. And one of the things that I have recognized is that we are coming up short in regards to industrial space in Las Vegas. And there are two options. Obviously, there's other options of infill projects here in Las Vegas. And we have plenty of infill land that small businesses can expand to. But we really lack larger industrial business park space. So the two options that we have is the DBIB Industrial Park and the San Miguel County Wood Park. So these are municipal-owned because industrial-based businesses require a little bit more partnership with the municipalities and counties. And these public-private partnerships are necessary. So the DBib Business Park is really at capacity as far as I'm concerned. I'd like to hear from Councillor Martinez and anyone else that has any input on that. The other location is Wood Park, and we have old wood out there that is getting ready to expand with a brand new building with an economic development administrative grant through the county. It's really important to have space that we can rely on in the future. And what I've felt is that the city airport is the most underutilized asset that we have in in this area. So in the past, I've met with staff and we've got Bob Post in here. He was on the airport board. And so when this site readiness program came up, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to find out what kind of utilities do we lack at the airport and how can we get that site ready for a business park. So right now this is the location that we're looking at through the study is the west side of the airport. You can see the view out through the former World War II hangar to the west and Right now, we've got B Public Prefab, a New Mexico company here in Las Vegas that has expanded to the point where they need to look for a new location, and they're interested in renovating this property. If you could give us an opportunity to have a site visit. to see the property. I've been inside it. I think it's marvelous. And we've got a company that uses no water in their manufacturing and making prefab construction materials. So they're the perfect fit that could actually take this historic building and preserve it for another century. So I'm sorry. And so that's basically what I'm proposing that you consider with a cost share is looking at water storage out at the airport that could be considered improving the capacity for utilities. Right on the screen here is the report that was put together by our consultant out of South Carolina, global location strategies. And this was a report that gives you a value of about $20,000 of doing basically a feasibility study of the utilities to identify whether you're site ready or not. And they came out, and I want to thank all the departments. that put up with me. I was relentless and knew how important it would be, and I really appreciate community development and the utility folks with the city to be able to participate in this. You hosted a site visit, provided as much information as you could, and this is the location right here of a proposed business park that we would like to see council in the future decide that this is a priority of yours. When we look at economic development, we want to make sure that your staff is going to have something to recruit and grow. And right now the community foundation is hiring an economic development person right now business development and that's great for local businesses and to help them grow and but there are certain locations that municipalities and counties need to take advantage of because you offer incentives that these companies can consider and like your work with STORAGE COMPANIES RIGHT NOW. WE HAVE A WOMAN THAT IS OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPER THAT JUST WROTE A BOOK ON HOW TO WORK WITH DATA STORAGE COMPANIES AND HOW A MUNICIPALITY CAN BE PREPARED. So these are the site characteristics of the property. There's no BNSF access from this location. Total acreage, 1,000 acres, and we're looking at a smaller footprint for the business park. These are the site utilities where the natural gas infrastructure is obviously wagon-mound, and we've got the transmission lines and utility and... The disadvantages of the site is the site is available for lease only, not for sale. In regards to the hanger, I would help you with an ordinance and a compliant participation agreement to allow you to give that property. to be public so that they could take that property and put the investment in that's needed if the city of Las Vegas were not willing to put the investment into the property. So it would comply with the anti-notation clause because they manufacture products and you would receive the benefits of the expanded employment as well as the capital investment that goes into the property And it would go back on the tax rolls for the county so that everybody benefits instead of having a vacant building. So this is a conceptual existing location. I've sent this report. Everybody received it when it came out. But I've provided the city manager as well as the mayor if you want to read it. And I'd be happy to send it to you individually. Okay. But I only had 10 minutes, so I'm going to have to move on pretty fast here to the end of the report. Where are we at in time, Chief?

10 minutes.

Can you summarize and finish up, Tim? Yes, sir. So when we started talking about how do we provide utilities to the airport, we started working with utilities in regards to looking at bringing a water line up the road. We have a... a LIDA municipal cost share two-page application that we've completed, and we just need your support to submit that to our department so that we can start looking at a year ago we met with Cabinet Secretary Black and Councilor... Montoya and yourself, and we started talking about water storage. So if you could take that document and confirm what exactly the costs are as well as cost of what water storage is. We have the documentation for the water line, but it would be a great start to providing something to work with out there. So the recommendations are that based on the utilities that you have out there right now, which we knew was lacking, that they do not recommend that you qualify for a site-designated readiness. But you do qualify for our LIDA municipal projects, and I provided examples of how Clovis, Taos, and Moriarty airports have received very good awards with high cost share from our department. And if you could provide what the city can bring skin to the game to the project, I think it would be well worth it. The very simple two-page application that I've already completed So the site review So they recommended improvements of Geotech reports rezoned to industrial. Cultural resource study, species study. They obviously are used to seeing natural gas, so it's something that they just have to live with in New Mexico. But the last recommendations I'd like to mention is conduct due diligence studies to mitigate risk of the unknown for a project such as this. Zoning, the site is currently unzoned if resulting industrial use. A lot of companies would like to have to make sure that it is zoned industrial. But for a company like Bee Public, I mean, they're just happy to have the expanded space here in Las Vegas. And then wastewater infrastructure, water and wastewater capacity, and they're recommending natural gas infrastructure, but we have propane. So, Mayor and Council, that is my presentation. And I'd be happy to take any questions.

Thank you, Tim. I just, I don't know, how often are you meeting with our Community Development Department? When was the last time you met?

Not enough. I really don't. have any projects that community development and I are working on right now.

No projects, but you gave some data. I know with the airport, I know there was some you might want to get with fire and community development. I think there was some hazardous asbestos stuff. So there's stuff that I know you're bringing up these options that are available, but there's things that we have to address. I know it's been a safety concern. I know here internally, and maybe Mr. Manager, you could you know, maybe meet with Mr. Hageman. The storage tanks, that's a project we've been talking for about a year that we already basically got funding for it. So you're kind of presenting some things that are a little bit outdated. So maybe you want to meet with our officials here.

I haven't seen a historic building that cannot be renovated. And the city hall is one of them. I'd love to see completed, and nothing is a barrier to completing the presentation project.

Safety concerns is basically what it's at. But if you could meet with city manager, and I would say regularly. I thought you were meeting with them regularly, monthly, but obviously that's not happening. But if we could have more communication, I think, I know Mr. Manager, myself, Councillor Martinez met with Secretary Black. There's some other stuff they're working on, but we really need to, bridge that communication because it seems like we're way, way, you know, separate apart, Mr. Manager, I don't know.

agreed mayor council mr. Hagman I appreciate the presentation but we do need to get better on the same page I wanted to read in ten things on the record because I think they're real important to the mayor and the council and the direction that's been provided by mayor council and a lot of work that's been done just in a year and a couple of months in particular but you're correct mr. Hagman mayor and mayor and council matoa We had an initial meeting with Secretary Black a year ago, almost a little over a year ago. We had another meeting between myself and a counselor at New Mexico Highlands University tied around economic development with the Secretary specifically related to the on-site readiness project. That project was articulated to Mayor and Council. Mayor and Council provided direction to work closely with the Economic Development Department to provide the information necessary to to move forward with that evaluation. I had a subsequent individual discussion with Secretary Black in relation to the on-site readiness project as well. I, along with the Public Works Director, Mr. Scott Zunker, Jimmy Seiss, John Aragon, and several people from the State Aviation Bureau, And the individuals specifically working on the on-site readiness project had a meeting at the airport to talk specifically about not only their proposal and many of the contents that Mr. Hageman wrote, but also raised questions tied to other potential aspects, including land use, zoning, other key components associated with the project. Mayor, Councillor Ulibarri, Councillor Martinez, myself, John Aragon and Mr. Jimmy Seiss attended the airport conference and essentially airport 101 and received a lot of very detailed and pertinent information directly linked to the recommendations contained in the on-site readiness report that was just articulated by Mr. Hagman. We also have been Continually over the course of the last year staff internally. We're down to weekly meetings. Mr. Martinez. We have Mr. Martinez. We have Mr. David Marcus Lucas Marcus Chief I think you're in those discussions as well specifically tied to infrastructure and so we already received infrastructure funding based on the support direction and approval of mayor and council associated with the water storage tanks, but we're also in tandem with developing proposals and plans associated with gas, fiber, and other necessary infrastructure components that will be part of the onsite readiness report. We clearly know, based on the communication and the feedback directly from Secretary Black, that we have to fill those primary infrastructure gaps, as Mayor and Councilman Martinez, we heard just a few days ago, And so we're on that path. We're on that trajectory to make sure we have that information and that work in place. But I want to assure the mayor and council, we're constantly meeting on that particular project. We're directly tied to the on-site readiness proposal, but also connected to zoning needs that we have to also work through with that area. A couple last things. Our airport committee does yeoman's work constantly associated with the airport. We are going to start taking our updates and presentations as to the construction aspects of the water line and other proposals relative to gas, fiber, and other infrastructure to that committee to assure that they have that appropriate information advancing forward I just appreciate you very much, Mr. Hagman. We will tighten up our communication protocols, but I did want to articulate on the record a lot has happened associated with economic development specifically connected to the airport, specifically connected to advancing infrastructure needed at the airport so that we're able to market ourselves. And so I just wanted to state that on the record. Ms. Martinez and Mr. Seitz will reach out to you so we can get on a more consistent cadence and also make the connection back to Secretary Black and the other leadership that's been very helpful to all of us during this process. So thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Tim.

Thank you for participating in our site readiness program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item, business item number six. Request approval of a memorandum of understanding between the city of Las Vegas and the West Las Vegas School District for commercial driver's license program. We have our city manager, Mr. Anaya, and Mr. Seiss, our program project outreach liaison.

And then we have our instructor, Mr. Ulibarri, Superintendent Christopher Gutierrez, and our

principal mrs.. Pacheco and any students guys want to come up and There I would just simply say that there's been a lot of work that the Marin Council has provided direction on The whole team of the West Las Vegas schools has been on board and working. We started with the project with the mechanics that we're continuing with our auto mechanics program and working with Mr. James Stevens. But we look forward to continuing this work. Mr. Seiss, I want to turn it over to you first maybe to provide a little bit of background because you've been knee deep in this project and then we can TURN IT OVER TO THE SUPERINTENDENT AND PRINCIPAL PACHECO AND THE REST OF THE TEAM. BUT THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PROGRAM FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW. MR. ULABRI REACHED OUT AFTER WE STARTED THE TALKS WITH THE MOU REGARDING THE MECHANICS PROGRAM. HE WANTED TO COLLABORATE WITH THE CITY. With this MOU, it's just a framework to collaborate with our students, provide them career opportunities here in the city, give them more opportunities to stay local, and give them the tools necessary so they can advance. With that, I'll turn it over to Mr. Ulibri.

Well, good afternoon. I was speaking with Mr. Seitz and Mr. David, and we want to collaborate more. I mean, more like an OJT on the job training with these students and get them out here and pretty much in the industry and show them what the NADs can do for us. I want to thank you guys again for hearing us out. I got some students here that I'd like to introduce.

Hi, I'm Jeremiah. And for the CDL, I would like to, in the future, it helps like with career and college. I know having the Class A, it would really help with going into college, having the housing. And I know college is, tuition is free, but the housing can help out having this jobs, finding jobs with the Class A. And it'll really help in bigger opportunities. Thank you. Thank you.

If you don't mind just telling us what grade you're in right now, I think that would help out also.

Hi, my name is . I'm a senior. Like Jeremiah said with the CDL, it'll provide us different job opportunities, not only here in Las Vegas, but in other parts of New Mexico and eventually out of state. Like he said, with college housing, all the other fees that come with college, this CDL could provide more financial help for us and many other students.

My name is Andrew Trujillo. I'm a senior at West Las Vegas. I plan to get my CDL and work locally until I turn 21 until I can cross state lines and then move to Texas to work on the oil fields. But like they said, it'd be nice to get that financial step up in life to move out of the house of my parents and be on my own. And from there, I'll start building my own lifestyle, maybe eventually have kids and teach them the ways.

I'm Brazen Lewis. I'm senior too. I would like to have this opportunity to grow and understand more. So this CDL would be a great opportunity for me, even as a backup if college doesn't work out for me, or if something else doesn't go my way in life.

Mayor and Council, again, thank you for allowing us to be here today. This is actually our fifth year with our CDL classes. And we started these classes five years ago due to the fact that we were noticing a lack of CDL operators in our city, from our garbage trucks to even myself as bus drivers. At that time and point, bus drivers' average age was 77. So we were seeing something in the future that's going to need to happen for kids to get to school, for our solid waste to get picked up. So we decided we need to do something. We need to start building our backbone of our industries from automotive to welding to CDL. And these programs have just thrived with our students and it just gives them that opportunity, like they stated, to to work for the city until, you know, if they want to move to bigger and better things down the road. Again, thank you.

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity. Certainly, you know, the CDL program also you know, has become popular for those students that are not necessarily interested in attending a four-year college, right? We're providing that career track through automotive, through CDL, and hopefully welding. You know, we're seeing a lot of our students graduate with these certificates and just working locally, starting their own companies at a young age. So I think the success rate speaks for itself. So again, thank you to everyone.

Thank you. Mr. Manager?

No, Mayor, Council, we're excited. We're going to keep bringing programs. I do want to articulate that we've had the opportunity, you and I, and Mr. Marcus, Lucas Marcus, Chief Marcus, to go to the school and begin to speak to our students. We had the opportunity with the med students the other day that are – working on their bachelor's, and they'll go to medical school. And so we stand ready to continue to be available. Many of our students sitting around this leadership table are from right here, from West Las Vegas, from Robertson. And so we're honored to be part of that, Mayor and Council. And it's through the direction, vision, and support that we get from you as Mayor and Council. And so we're appreciative of that.

That's all I have. Thank you. Just, you know, hearing these young students, I could go back, you know, maybe 10 years when I was on the school board, you didn't have these opportunities. And I know that Mr. Gutierrez, actually, I take myself and Councilor Martinez take credit in hiring you and the stability that you have brought to West Las Vegas. But having these students now, I mean, you heard the young gentleman there that, you know, he knows where he wants to be at the age of 21, right? And those are the things that I know not only here in the state, but all over the country, the opportunities in trade schools, and what you've done at West Las Vegas is huge and tremendous that not all of us are university students, right? I mean, we're hands-on experiences, and I think that's what this program, we did with the mechanics, now with the CDL program, and you continue to just thrive. And I guess... because of your principal there, you know, she's developing these programs, and that's the big part, right? I mean, you have the vision as a superintendent, and it takes principals and teachers to get on board, and I think what you're doing in these trade schools is tremendous. I know that we've had students, as a matter of fact, we just had a summer youth program that I hear from some of our directors saying, should we need to hire these guys if we can while they're going to school? I said, hey, well, let's get those conversations going, because At the end, those are students that can be a part of this community, have a career. I know sometimes we're labeled as the city not being career-driven, but I think we are. Many individuals from Mr. Castellano to Mr. Marquez, the other Mr. Marquez, all of them, you know, have gone through, you know, through the school of hard knocks and here they are as directors leading, uh, I could say some of them 30, 40 employees under, under each one, one of their, their leadership. So, uh, you know, we continue to support anything that you guys do to keep our students here. Uh, and I'll, I'll end it at that and I'll turn it over to council what the direction is or if they have any comments that comes through.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Thank you, Mr. Gutierrez. something really super nice at CDL. When I graduated from West, it was auto mechanics. We landed from scratch. You guys have an opportunity to bother and drive, drive for other companies. It's a good paying job. It's a good education. Just watch what you're doing. That's all. And I can tell you that you guys will succeed in this life. Thank you.

Thank you.

Councillor Pochettko. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Students, glad you're here. Glad you're taking advantage of this opportunity. Any credential you can get in life is going to move you ahead. It's always something to have in your pocket and to do something with. Young man with a Highlands shirt, I do like that.

So that's another plus.

I know we're Westside, but we always like Highlands as well. I do want to note that, for the record, the program started before I was elected to council, but I'm in full support of it, and I think it's a great opportunity for our students and for our community. Mr. Livari, I know you're a man of many trades. It's not just the CDL instructor. He's the golf coach. I don't know what he does about 9 or 10 other things there at West in our neighborhood. So thank you very much. You're dedicated to the students and to our community, and we really appreciate that. Mr. Gutierrez, I mean, you've been a rock there at West Las Vegas. Stability, forward thinking, and a lot of the things that you're doing there, it's great to see. I do want to note that we have one district here. We have opportunities for all students, and we're willing, if there's Things that we can expand upon and do with Las Vegas City Schools, we're open to that as well. West Las Vegas has set the template. All we have to do is duplicate that and put it into place somewhere else. I also would be remiss if I don't know probably the most important person in the room. You know, probably the smartest, most beautiful principal in the world, Ms. Pacheco. So, you know, under your leadership, you know, you've done a great job there. And for those that don't know, she's my wife. But, you know, I want to make sure I get to sleep in the bed tonight. Great job. You know, I know you're dedicated to West Las Vegas and dedicated to your students, and it's great to see these. young men and I know there's even some young women taking advantage of this opportunity. So just great job all the way around. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor Pacheco, I want you to know that I absolutely agree about your wonderful wife. I had the honor and pleasure of working with her years ago when she was still a teacher and I'm very happy that she moved up and she's doing a fantastic job as is Mr. Gutierrez. I would have loved to have had this program when I was in high school. For senior week, we decided, all the seniors decided to go to Story Lake and get together and have a picnic. On the way back, my friend, who is now one of the school board members at West, drove us out there. All the girls went in her car, and her car broke down right in front of the drive-in. And so, of course, she's a beautiful woman and she was a beautiful girl. And so all the guys stopped to help her. None of them knew what to do at all. They could barely open the hood of the car, much less fix anything. And so it would have been wonderful if we had had somebody there that would have known what they were doing. And so we ended up walking like halfway back into town until somebody felt sorry for us and picked us up. So this is a wonderful opportunity for you and also for upcoming students and for the district and for Las Vegas. And so I commend the school district the students, Mr. Saez for working with the school district to be our liaison with them. And so I'm very pleased with this, and I hope that we can move forward on it and get it taken care of. Thank you.

Councilman Martinez.

Thank you. Well played, Councilor Pacheco. I don't think I could top that. But anyway, you know, for many years that I served in the West Las Vegas School Board along with Mayor Romero, and we talked about this, this same thing that's happening today to our community and to the school districts in our state, too. We talked about it. We're bringing the trades back to our communities, and that's what's really important. I've held a CDL since probably 1981, 82. So it's an important piece of your life and your future ahead. It doesn't matter what you do in life. It's a good piece of paper to continue to have and to make sure that something you earn, you want to make sure you hold on to. Don't give it up. whether it's a bus endorsement or further or hazmat. I work with hazardous materials and we're constantly looking for good people to be employed in the propane industry. We have smaller trucks, they're not big semis, they're nothing right now, but But it's a continued process in our community. There's other companies, Ferrel Gas, Merigas, other businesses. You've got plenty of other opportunities in our community with construction companies. You've got Rocky Road. You've got Magnum. You've got plenty of others that are here in our community that need CDL drivers. And it's a good occupation if you enjoy driving. And I wish you all a whole lot of luck. Mr. Gutierrez, Superintendent, I applaud you for following through on these projects. And it's been good for our community. Thank you very much.

And I do want to add, although we'll take credit for hiring Mr. Gutierrez, and I'm going to say this because I think it's well said. I know we have Mr. Castellano that continued You know with Mr.. Gutierrez you know in his capacity Every year he gets a contract renewal, and so you know that the continuity has happened And I think I could be the first to say and Mr.. Gutierrez and counselor Martinez you could nod your head yes or no But I remember the bumps when we hired Mr.. Gutierrez people said you're hiring him He don't know you know he's never been a superintendent. He's inexperienced. He's young I think you were 30 36 at the time But today, when I speak with some of those individuals, I say, how are you liking the hire now? And I use that as an example because sometimes we get caught up in frustrations in government or any elected official, and today we get fed up with, well, sometimes you've got to stick things through to see a result and have innovators and doers, as sometimes they say.