Mayor Enriquez,
I am one of many who surely have written you voicing concern over the proposal of changing the Council’s agenda and where the public comment will fall.
Mayor, you campaigned claiming you would listen to the concerns and needs of the citizens of Las Cruces. If you change the Council agenda to place public comments at the end of the meeting it will literally hobble the ability for many, if not most citizens ability to attend. That silences a great many voices.
Instead of placing the public comments at the end of the meeting with Council comments following – why not keep public comment where it is, then Council can respond immediately? It surely will not slow the regular council agenda any more than it already does. When there are citizens who have public comment on agenda items, the Council already responds directly after at that time. Persons who are needing to present agenda items, and are city officials, can easily stream the Council meeting live and then move to the Chamber when necessary. City officials jobs are not hampered by this approach – they aren’t ‘docked or shorted’ because of needing to attend the council meeting. Where as private citizens may and are.
Exactly who does the Council want to be most sensitive to? It certainly seems, with what has transpired in the last 5 weeks, the Council needs to be sensitive and respectful of the citizens who placed them in those seats. Alternative methods will be sought when citizens do not believe their elected officials are sympathetic to hearing the issues that affect them every day. They are the ones who deal with the fear, harassment, financial burdens and repercussions from a social system that has gone awry – to no fault of their own.
Please either leave the format alone or structure Council remarks to public comments earlier instead of later.
Thank you for your time,
Beth Bousquet
5th District, Las Cruces
