Lawrence Joy, a well-known Las Crucen who has twice run unsuccessfully for state representative, said he is “strongly considering” running for the District 6 seat on the Las Cruces City Council when a special election is held in January.
The seat will become vacant on Nov. 19 when Ken Miyagishima is sworn in as the city’s new mayor. The clerk hasn’t set a date for the special election – preparations will begin after the completion of the canvass of Tuesday’s election later today – but it will be held sometime in January.
“When running for state representative I campaigned on bringing the legislative process back to the voters to include the community on all decisions. This idea will work very well on the city council and continue the efforts of Ken Miyagishima in District 6,” Joy said.
He said he is concerned about issues beyond the development debate that overshadowed Tuesday’s election, and listed problems in the city attorney’s office, including high turnover, as one issue. In addition, he said he has the ability to build good working relationships with other councilors and leaders of other local governments.
He also talked about sunshine.
“If you want open government, I’m it,” he said. “I’m going to bring it all out, provide it to everybody.”
Joy said he’ll wait to see who else decides to run before making a final decision on the race, but said he’s ready to go. Since he has run for office in the past, he has a fundraising letter that can be ready with only slight revisions and yard signs that need only small alterations.
Joy unsuccessfully challenged state Rep. Antonio Lujan in 2004 and 2006. He owns a direct-mail advertising firm and is the announcer for the