{"id":69272,"date":"2015-07-26T20:54:57","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T02:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=69272"},"modified":"2015-07-26T20:56:29","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T02:56:29","slug":"a-bright-future-for-the-city-of-las-cruces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/07\/a-bright-future-for-the-city-of-las-cruces\/","title":{"rendered":"A bright future for the City of Las Cruces"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> Eight years ago, just before my first campaign as mayor, I wrote a column for the Las Cruces Sun-News that outlined concerns associated with rapid growth in our region. Would Las Cruces continue to be a place we enjoy living? Could we make city decision-making open and transparent? Could we build a future shaped by everyone and not just a few?<\/p>\n

\"Ken<\/a>

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Ken Miyagishima<\/p><\/div>\n

In a column four years later, after my first term in office, I was able to answer these important questions in the affirmative. A commitment to comprehensive planning, combined with reasonable development standards, brought increased order and logic to our growth as a city.<\/p>\n

Careful financial management allowed us to maintain a high level of service, even during a time of exceptional economic challenge. We made key investments in our city\u2019s future, guided by a detailed strategic plan and an unprecedented level of resident involvement in the decisions that were made.<\/p>\n

Now, at the end of my second term of office, we are in the midst of a period of exceptional advancement for the city. A new city hall, museum complex and transit center will soon be joined downtown by a major community health facility in the old city office building. Ground has been broken on a medical school on the NMSU campus, and a groundbreaking has just taken place on our new downtown city plaza.<\/p>\n

We have a beautiful aquatic center and a rapidly expanding network of walking and bike trails. Our new Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument is already drawing visitors from around the world.<\/p>\n

The questions that face us now, eight years after my first column, are different, centering more on our willingness to continue forward on this positive path.<\/p>\n

Can we put aside arguments of the past to champion what we share in common, a deep love for our city and a commitment to its future? Can we reaffirm our determination to make sure Las Cruces is a great place for everyone who lives here \u2013 business owner or employee, long-time resident or recent arrival, child just starting out or a person now retired?<\/p>\n

At its most basic level a good community allows us to accomplish together what we can\u2019t do on our own: building and maintaining streets, providing water and sewer systems, and making sure we have the police, fire and emergency services to keep our neighborhoods safe. A strong community seeks out and supports economic growth and opportunity, with the kinds of jobs that allow workers to be full participants in the life of our city. A wise community continues to invest in its people and its future, creating a better life not just for ourselves, but for everyone else.<\/p>\n

When I look back at all that we\u2019ve accomplished over the past eight years, I think of the many contributions of our engaged residents, a public-spirited council and a dedicated city staff. I think of our determination to open up the governing process and the spirited public dialogue that is an inevitable result. I think of the great strides we\u2019ve made as a city, and the great things we will do together in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

We are extremely fortunate to live in Las Cruces, in this place and time, with all of the many and varied efforts being made to improve our community. I hope we will not draw back, but will continue to invest in our future, grateful for the many advantages we enjoy as a city. I hope we will make the most of this moment and opportunity, and the confidence in our community we\u2019ve worked so hard to build.<\/p>\n

In so many ways, the best is yet to come.<\/p>\n

Miyagishima is Las Cruces’ mayor.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are extremely fortunate to live in Las Cruces, in this place and time, with all of the many and varied efforts being made to improve our community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[145],"class_list":["post-69272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-las-cruces"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}