One of the central questions in Tuesday’s Las Cruces municipal election is whether the city’s growth is out of control. This article is the second in a two-part series that explores that question. Wednesday’s article looked at growth in a new area, while today’s article considers infrastructure needs in older neighborhoods.
By Vicki Nisbett
Streets that need paving, water mains that break and sidewalks built in the 1930s are just some of the items on the outgoing District 4 Las Cruces city councilor’s list that need to be fixed, and he’s frustrated it’s not happening.
In fact, that’s why Steven Trowbridge isn’t seeking re-election.
“The council is splurging on things that are not helping neighborhoods,” he said. “… That’s why Steve Trowbridge is going off the council, because I can’t stand the way (the money) is being spent.”
The city’s growth is an issue in Tuesday’s municipal election. Many citizens believe the city is not adequately keeping up with services and infrastructure maintenance in existing neighborhoods because it’s too focused on new development. Trowbridge said he doesn’t believe the city is growing too fast, but he does believe more revenue generated by the growth should be spent on infrastructure in existing neighborhoods.
Trowbridge said the city’s focus on downtown revitalization is taking money away from neighborhoods. City Manager Terrence Moore said about $1.3 million has been spent for the recently completed Phase I project to reopen a section of
Much of the money for the revitalization is coming from outside sources, including grants and legislative appropriations,
The downtown debate
Trowbridge, who was first elected in 1999, said he has no plans to seek any future office. Comments made to this reporter and another local newspaper last week were the first time he has publicly explained his reason for leaving the council.
“It’s a very human phenomenon that the more I protest, the more I question it, the more I alienate myself from council, the more isolated my district will become,” Trowbridge said Friday.
“I put myself in the minority questioning the wisdom of the downtown plan,” he said. “We have limited resources, so we have to choose. I see the multi-million dollar downtown investment taking money away from improvements in the neighborhoods. It’s largely a choice of council.”
District 6 Councilor Gil Jones said downtown revitalization is not No. 1 on his list, but it’s a high-priority item.
“I look forward to the downtown mall (revitalization),” Jones said. “I moved here in 1972. It seemed, almost immediately after I moved here, I noticed residents were complaining they want their downtown back. I think it will be good for the community.”
District 3 Councilor Dolores Archuleta agreed with Jones that downtown revitalization will attract new businesses. She said it will bring in new jobs to
“I did not know why Councilor Trowbridge was leaving, but I did know that he disagreed with the council,” Archuleta said. “The majority of the council thinks (the downtown revitalization) is a priority.”
Jones said attractive and enticing communities draw industry. He envisions a downtown district that includes museums, entertainment and a strong workforce, in addition to high-density homes and surrounding residents, and said it will draw businesses to consider locating downtown.
Trowbridge says growth isn’t out of control
Though he has problems with the focus of downtown, Trowbridge said he does not believe
Archuleta does not think growth is a problem.
“The stats presented to the city council, by David Weir, community development director, at our Oct. 8 council meeting, showed a 3 percent (annual) growth in the city over a number of years,” Archuleta said. “This percentage is very good and manageable, so the growth in the city, in my opinion, is not out of control.”
Jones agreed and also pointed out the city’s unemployment rate is a healthy 4 percent.
“We’re experiencing a healthy rate of growth, a much more rapid rate of growth then
Some people see recent annexations as uncontrolled growth, Jones said. He said just because real estate is annexed doesn’t mean it is developed in the short term and immediately increases the population. Some of those annexations will take decades upon decades to develop, he said.
Jones thinks the city has planned its growth. He said
District 4 projects are getting funding
The city’s growth is bringing increased revenue into the city, Trowbridge said. In addition to gross receipts, the city gets revenue from other sources, such as the state appropriations.
The El Molino flood control project has been the biggest capital improvement in District 4. The first four phases have been completed, including construction of a large catchment area that goes under
Jones said the city will receive about $19 million for capital improvements, including the El Molino project, this year. Archuleta said the El Molino project has received a lot of money. She also pointed out that
The city manager said he believes the city is working on keeping up with infrastructure needs in existing neighborhoods.
“The City of
Despite the problems Trowbridge sees, one resident of his district, Joe A. Duran, a retired resident on Circle Drive, has been pleased with work that has been done in his neighborhood. Duran said Trowbridge helped rehabilitate his neighborhood through the El Molino project.
“He took an old neighborhood and saw to it that something was done,” Duran said. “It had constant problems with sewage and problems with water.”
Trowbridge says more funding is needed
But some streets in District 4 are seriously underfunded, Trowbridge said. Some of the streets in his district that need repaving include
“We have capitalized our assets showing that our streets are $125 million, so if you follow a given formula, we’re coming up short. We need $8 million per year for street maintenance and we’re getting $4 million,” Trowbridge said.
Trowbridge said the cost of rebuilding some aging streets is so high because it will require the installation of new gas lines and conduits, which requires that streets be lowered. Broken water mains constantly flood
“We could just tar it, but we’d have to rip it all out again,” Trowbridge said. “People get so frustrated because they have been waiting for years.”
The El Molino project needs more funding, he said.
“If El Molino is listed as a priority with our legislative lobbyists, why isn’t it getting funded?” he asked. “A short answer to this is, (it’s) because the majority of the city council is listing such things as the downtown mall as the No. 1 priority.”
Nisbett is a reporting intern for Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics.