Las Cruces City Councilor Ken Miyagishima will take another shot at unseating Mayor Bill Mattiace on Nov. 6.
Miyagishima, whose current term on the council runs until 2009, plans to make his mayoral campaign official with an announcement on Wednesday, a source confirmed.
Miyagishima ran for mayor in 2003, receiving 25 percent of the vote in the unsuccessful effort. Almost 40 percent went to Mattiace, while three additional challengers split the other 35 percent.
A lot has changed since then. Approval in April of the gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America and in May of the annexation and master plan for The Vistas at Presidio, a massive development on the
Miyagishima, 44, was the only councilor to vote against The Vistas at Presidio and was one of the few public officials to oppose the tax increase. Mattiace supported both.
In addition to the mayor’s office, three city council positions and one municipal judgeship are up for grabs on the first Tuesday in November.
In recent weeks, Miyagishima has laid out what will likely be his campaign platform. He wrote a guest column for this site and other publications in July stating that, while Las Cruces will continue to grow, “the larger question is whether we have the vision to make this growth work for the benefit of the people who live here, or whether out-of-control development will destroy the very things that have made Las Cruces such a special and enjoyable place to live.”
He wrote that the city must end its “developer-driven, no-questions-asked policy of growth at any cost.” He called for “smart growth,” paying “as much attention to the revitalization, health and livability of existing neighborhoods as we do the building of new ones,” and the protection of “our mountains, foothills and river corridor.”
Miyagishima made headlines last week when he proposed that the city purchase life insurance policies for its police officers and firefighters. The $250,000 policy he proposes would equal what the state provides the families of National Guard members who are killed while on active duty, but Miyagishima wants the city’s policy to apply to those who die both in the line of duty and from other causes, including accidental death.
Miyagishima’s Wednesday announcement will come 11 days after he sent an e-mail to supporters asking if he should run for mayor, but many Mattiace supporters have suspected for months that Miyagishima was opposing proposals backed by the mayor in preparation for a challenge.
Mattiace laid out his vision in January in his 2007 State of the City address. He plans to continue pushing for development on the
Mattiace is a champion of the city’s growth.
“We can’t build walls high enough to keep people from this beautiful area and, even if we could, our city is young and people like to make more people,” he said in the January speech. “So we must find a way to both manage and come to terms with our growth.”
Mattiace also acknowledged that the city hadn’t done enough to meet the needs of existing neighborhoods and pledged a renewed focus on them.