Las Cruces mayor highlights economic development during State of the City address
The Las Cruces mayor delivered his annual state of the city address just after noon on Wednesday at the Las Cruces City Hall.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima highlighted his perceived successes throughout the city, including economic development, new school initiatives, a commitment to renewable energy and new efforts to increase quality of life in the city of Las Cruces.
“Our achievements demonstrate on a daily basis what can be accomplished together, and what a strong force shared commitment could be,” Miyagishima said.
The mayor discussed revived interest in downtown recreational activities, with a new civic plaza that has “become the go-to place for rallies and public celebrations.”
Miyagishima highlighted several school initiatives, including the “Community School program,” which makes local schools “neighborhood hubs for education, recreation and community life” throughout Las Cruces.
The City of Las Cruces continues to make commitments toward renewable energy, the mayor said. In the past two years, the city has added more than one megawatt of solar panels to city buildings.
“I would like to continue the process until we meet virtually all of our electrical needs through energy efficiency, time of use rates and renewable resources,” Miyagishima said.
City Manager Stuart Ed, hired in the fall of 2016, has created a “Peak Performance” plan, in which city services are evaluated by residents through online services.
For example, the new “Ask Las Cruces” mobile app allows residents to report complaints or issues to the proper department in the city. Citizens can also email qualityofplace@las-cruces.org to report directly to city staff. Ed’s goal is for city staff to respond to inquires within 24 hours.
“We want our planning and development to consistently facilitate human contact rather than limit it,” Miyagishima said. “We want our decision-making to include more people rather than less.”
The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government recently named Las Cruces the most transparent city in the state. WalletHub named Las Cruces the sixth best-run city in the country.
“Statistics change from year to year, and it’s hard to know what to make of some of these rankings, but I’m proud that others are aware of what we’re doing as a city,” Miyagishima said.
