Doña Ana County Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler, often the lone opposition to development projects in the unincorporated area around Las Cruces, was removed from the board that oversees such growth projects by his peers Tuesday.
Butler will be replaced by new Commissioner Karen Perez on the Extraterritorial Zoning Authority. That body, composed of three commission members and two Las Cruces city councilors, approves or denies growth projects in a five-mile zone around the City of Las Cruces.
For the past two years, Butler, a Democrat, has often been at odds with councilors and the other commissioners on the authority, Democrat Bill McCamley and Republican Kent Evans. The other four members usually approve developments, based on recommendations from city and county staff members assigned to work with what is commonly called the ETZ.
Growth policy has been an especially contentious subject between Butler, who wants to place more severe restrictions on growth, and McCamley, who favors growth and more dense housing projects.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Perez raised issues with both commissioners. Noting that Butler has called for the dissolution of the ETZ, she asked whether he is committed to working with the other members of the authority. She asked McCamley whether he thought the fact that his district is almost entirely in the city tips the balance on the ETZ from the county to the city.
Those have been common complaints against both commissioners. Butler has been a thorn in the side of developers and other advocates of growth and economic development. Many residents who live in the ETZ moved there because they like living in a rural area but being close to city services, and have complained that McCamley seems more focused on city-like development than on their interests.
McCamley said he doesn’t tip the balance to the city councilors.
“Just because I represent the city doesn’t mean I represent the city council,” he said. “I represent the county. Growth is one of the most important issues in the county.”
Butler said his viewpoint is important to the ETZ.
“I bring a balance to the kind of growth that’s going on,” he said. “The city is already developed, and what’s going on with the city right now is they want to develop even further.”
Butler also complained that McCamley and Evans have sided with city councilors to “rubber stamp” development, regardless of whether it’s responsible.
“There is a perception going on out there that we yield to high-growth developers,” Butler said.
Both answers seemed to satisfy Perez. She voted to keep Butler, Evans and McCamley on the board. Though she stated her interest in being on the board, she didn’t vote for herself.
But the other four members all voted for Perez, giving her four votes. McCamley and Evans also had four votes each, and Butler received three, making him the alternate member.
McCamley and Butler voted to replace each other with Perez.
Butler agreed to be the alternate but made no comment after the vote.
Once the decision was finalized, Perez, the commission’s chairwoman this year, expressed relief. She seemed tense and struggled with questioning McCamley and Butler during the discussion.
“Gosh, I hope that’s the last hard one,” she said.
The ETZ debate wasn’t the only sign of the frustration McCamley and Butler have with each other. Last year, commissioners sat in a row based on the numbers assigned to their districts at meetings, placing the two next to each other. This year, commissioners will continue to sit in that order, with one exception: Dolores Saldaña-Caviness will sit between Butler and McCamley.
Doña Ana County Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler, often the lone opposition to development projects in the unincorporated area around