Frietze to seek fourth term on city council

José Frietze has announced that he will seek a fourth term as the District 1 representative on the Las Cruces City Council, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting today.

Frietze has held the seat since 1995. Las Crucen Miguel Silva has spoken publicly about his intention to run against Frietze but has not formally announced his candidacy. Election Day is Nov. 6.

“I have chosen to run for re-election so I may see many important ventures that have begun through completion,” the Sun-News quoted Frietze as saying. “I know in the future we will see stunning results from the revitalization of downtown Las Cruces. I have been involved in the development of funding and the planning for this great project.”

The newspaper quoted Frietze as saying he is a strong advocate of planned economic development and maintaining the city’s cultural and historic heritage.

Frietze is the chief executive officer of Families and Youth, Inc., an organization he co-founded that serves at-risk youth in Southern New Mexico. He is a native of the Las Cruces area and attended public schools in Mesilla and Las Cruces. He has a bachelor’s in business administration from New Mexico State University and is an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam, the newspaper reported.

Frietze served on the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education for a decade before moving to the city council. He and his wife have two daughters and a granddaughter.