The Mesilla Plaza (Photo by Sillysocks/flickr.com)
Voters in the Town of Mesilla will choose a mayor and two members of the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
Incumbent Mayor Michael Cadena is being challenged by Trustee Nora Barraza and former Trustee Ella Alvarez Nelson in the mayor’s race, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting. And, in a separate article, the newspaper reports that six people are vying for two trustee seats.
From the newspaper:
“Striking a balance between preserving Mesilla’s deep, historic roots while still allowing for business growth and prosperity is the most obvious challenge facing the town. Concerns have also surfaced about adequate communications between elected officials, town staff, Mesilla’s business community and, most of all, residents.”
Cadena has been mayor for 12 years. Nelson was a trustee for eight years, and Barraza has been a trustee for 11 years and is currently the mayor pro tem.
Trustees serve at-large, so the top two vote getters on Tuesday will win. From the Sun-News:
“All of the six (trustee) candidates entered in Tuesday’s municipal election – Chris Alexander, Dennis Burn, Jesus Caro, Carolyn Dixon, Linda Flores, and Kathleen Foreman – support preservation and keeping what has made Mesilla a nice place to live. But from there, opinions of how the town goes about addressing its future noticeably vary.
“Some staunchly support the principle that Mesilla’s historical significance should not be compromised by growth. Others want to be more business friendly to stimulate Mesilla’s sagging economy, where gross receipts taxes have fallen 26 percent in the past year. And there are those who aren’t opposed to that, but want to move more cautiously.”
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Mesilla Town Hall, 2231 Avenida de Mesilla.