I’ve never had so much hope in my elected leaders as when you sat with the citizens of Las Cruces for six hours at the July town hall meeting. I was there until the last question was asked and answered. I cried when you explained that your daughter-in-law had been violently attacked and was left with severe injuries. Hundreds of your constituents were there to support your stance on public safety that had failed in the special legislative session that ended on the same day it began. Hundreds of your constituents were there, but not the Las Cruces mayor and not many city councilors.
I would challenge you to identify the person who posted the following on social media regarding your visit: “How embarrassing, to be a Democratically elected and SUPPORTED Governor who is now adopting right-wing narratives rooted in disinformation and fear mongering. How embarrassing, to be such a smart leader and to still resort to the use of dog whistles to push your political agenda. How disappointing for some[one] who I used to see as a fighter now be villainizing our most vulnerable neighbors. But no, we will not allow it. We will not be quiet.” And she was true to her word, immediately publishing a letter with another city leader calling the town hall a “distraction and counterproductive” and lamenting your “lack of genuine engagement with the Las Cruces City Council.” She calls you “disingenuous” with a “clear track record of disregarding and neglecting our capital outlay needs.”
Do you know who wrote these things about you in your attempt to better our community? Why, you sat next to her on Wednesday in Las Cruces. In fact, she brushed a bit of lint off of your skirt before the groundbreaking ceremony on Amador Crossing. I, and several other business owners, attended a meeting held by city officials regarding this facility. We asked whether families would be prioritized for this housing, to a resounding no from the city. We were also told personally by this same person that the facility would have no rules, no “barriers” to housing. This is the antithesis of the post you made about the success of Mayfair in which “firm rules that include no drug and alcohol use are paramount to any such program’s success.” If you build it, they will come. Well, you sat next to a detractor of public safety – your public’s safety – to build a mecca for criminals to come, and not to get better, but to continue to destroy their lives and terrorize Las Crucens.
Amador Crossing will house addicts next to those in recovery, with no incentive or requirement to better themselves. What it’s worth is what it costs, and if it doesn’t cost the residents anything (curfew, sobriety, seeking a job) then what is it worth to them? Give them something they have to work toward, that they can be proud of, that they’ll want to hold onto so they can see what self-worth is and what a life away from substances can be.
You got to see the Amador Crossing property after the city spent days before your visit cleaning it up. The business owners and residents in that area deal with drugs, violence, threats and death daily. We know what we’re in for because we’ve talked to the people who live and work around Desert Hope and we know that “housing first” destroys the lives of the neighbors and saves very few of the residents.
Meanwhile, a couple weeks ago in Las Cruces, a repeat, violent offender with multiple charges around New Mexico, including assault on a peace officer, beat a grandfather (in front of his grandson) with a stick so badly that he may be in excruciating pain for the rest of his life.
I suppose we had better get used to stories like this, additional tragedies perpetrated by criminals whose rights, it seems, are elevated above those who pay taxes, abide by the law and are just trying to live productive, normal, lawful lives; stories like Jonah Hernandez’s, Michael Ruiz’s and your own daughter-in-law’s.
