Held at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Notes created on November 6, 2025, at 10:04 AM by Minutes AI
Call to Order
• Mayor Miller called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm.
Roll Call
• Ms. Cordova: Present
• Mr. Davis: Present
• Mr. Lopez: Present
• Mr. Merrick: Present
• Ms. Parker: Present
• Mr. Rackler: Present
• Mr. Robinson: Present
• Mr. Self: Present
• Mayor Miller: Present
Invocation and Pledges
• Invocation led by Ms. Cordova.
• Pledges led by Mayor Miller.
• Mayor Miller also provided a correction to the New Mexico flag salute: Hand to heart at the end for “United.”
Public Comment:
• Speaker comments limited to three minutes.
• Six speakers per topic.
• Speakers must sign in before meetings.
Mr. Lentini
• Complained about the lack of automatic doors at the Memorial Building and the Senior Center.
• Streets: Lines are bad, especially by the Farmers Market.
• Sidewalks: Broken sidewalks are a hazard.
• Sweeping: Needs sweeping on A (Street) between 9th and University. Last sweep was ‘24 in the summer.
• Potholes: Need more than patching.
• We have a lot of empty buildings: Aarons is empty, church on South Avenue A is empty, the football stadium on US70 is empty. Something should be done with them.
• Newspapers/TV: No local newspaper or TV stations.
• Happy Thanksgiving.
Ms. Linda Davis
• Invited everyone to the “Roundup for Rondo” on the 15th to remember Ron Jackson.
• Trash lot cleanup, hot dog roast at the bank before the Greyhound game at 1:00 pm.
• Eastern is giving a code for $5 game entry for those who attend the trash walk.
Approval of Minutes
• Approval of the regular meeting minutes from October 21st, 2025.
• Motion to approve made by Mr. Robinson. Second, by Mr. Lopez.
• No roll call vote was made. Council verbally affirmed their unanimous approval. No abstentions. No opposition.
• Motion carries.
Staff Comments:
Fire/EMS (Chief Cathey)
• No changes to staffing or training.
• Seven of 11 fire apparatus in service, all ambulances in service.
• 286 calls for service last month: 89% EMS, 11% fire, 83% inside city limits.
• Average response times: 8.9 minutes for EMS, 10.7 minutes for fires.
• Staffing plan to be presented to public safety on November 20th.
Dispatch (J. Combs)
• No changes to staffing or training.
• One in the academy, graduating on Friday.
• 1,642 calls for service into dispatch.
• 4,781 total phone calls received.
Public Works (P. Gallegos)
• Mr. Gallegos is the new public works director.
• It’s officially day two for him.
• He wants to have re-use water in the parks by summer.
• There are vacant openings in streets (4), parks (3), solid waste (2), and water clerk (1), and water (3).
• The street sweeper works, and he plans to get it operational a couple of nights a week.
• Dead trees on the medians along Highway 70 will be addressed in a few weeks.
• Flashing amber light at First Street (near) Hong Kong (restaurant) will be checked.
• Lights out at US 70 intersection in front of Walmart need more investigation.
• Street resurfacing project should start in the next few weeks.
IT (C. Mitchell)
• In October, there were 982 tech tickets entered.
• There were five server migrations.
• A brand new phone system was installed last week.
HR (G. Richards)
• HR is fully staffed.
• Four new employees were onboarded in public works, police, streets, and animal control.
• The safe trick-or-treat event was successful for recruitment.
• HR is evaluating processes and procedures for improvement.
Library (T. Luscombe)
• The library is fully staffed.
• Regular children’s programs include stream and story time.
• The library will be closed for Veterans Day on November 11th.
• Family night is on November 19th at 5:15 PM, registration required.
• Teen programs include a book discussion on November 5th and a craft project on November 12th.
• Adult programs include book clubs and a mini scribe installation on Thursday.
• A workshop on Thursday morning at 10:30 for patrons, caregivers, and care providers who are blind, low vision, or have print disabilities for the scribe services.
• Adult craft night on November 13th, painting gingerbread houses, registration required.
• A blood drive will be held on November 13th from 12:00 to 3:30.
• A friends meeting will be held on November 19th at noon.
Animal Control (K. McClellan)
• Animal control passed its final permit.
• A ribbon cutting ceremony is being planned.
• Charity groups that donated the fence visited and were impressed.
• A new animal control officer has started work.
• Animals are being moved into the shelter before the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Finance (L. Rivera)
• The finance team is working on budget adjustments and quarterly reporting.
• November will focus on the audit.
• A finance committee meeting is scheduled for this Friday (Nov. 7)at 8:30.
• There is still a vacancy in the Deputy Finance position.
City Clerk (D. Swopes)
• Staffing hasn’t changed.
• The clerks attended a week-long New Mexico Clerk’s Institute.
• They received over 30 hours of credit in clerks’ training.
• An invitation is extended to join the Email Group list for receiving the agenda packets.
• Email: cityclerk@portalesnm.gov to be added to the list.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Visit (Mr. Mitten)
• A new addition was put in his office this week: samples from the wastewater treatment plant in mason jars.
• The speaker is proud of the city and city employees.
• There will be more systematic approaches to projects, with codified and time lined phases.
Emergency Management (A. Brezovsky)
• Working with Legacy Church for warming shelters during winter months.
• Risk management will conduct a full tour of city facilities next week to check for safety issues.
• A presentation on safety and emergency preparedness will be given at the Head Start facility next week.
• Workers’ Compensation claims are average to what they were last year, with only five or six actual minor injuries.
Council Comments:
Code Enforcement (D. Parker)
• Kelly hired an additional code enforcement officer.
• He is focusing on city properties first, then commercial, then residential.
• The city is working to clean up its own properties first.
Council Comments:
Drainage Ditch (E. Merrick)
• Drainage ditch is full of elm trees.
• Request to remove the trees and treat the stumps (on each side).
Weeds and Dogs (Mr. Lopez)
• Concerns about weeds on properties and lack of enforcement.
• Discussion about how the code enforcement officer will report weeds, and Pat’s team (@ Public Works) will handle them.
• Issue with stray dogs in the city, including an incident of dogs eating a chicken.
• Difficulty in catching stray dogs when owners deny ownership.
• Mr. Mitten: “If two dogs are sitting on a porch and they’re not tethered and they’re not leashed and there’s a person in that house where the porch belongs and you go and ask the person “Are these your dogs?” And the person says “No.” Then, if the dogs scatter off, we don’t catch them right at the time, we can’t really find the person. Unless there’s a way to absolutely confirm the dogs belong to that person. . . .We’re working on it (nuisance dogs), but it’s a bit of a quagmire.”
French Trenches (Mr. Robinson)
• Pat was thanked for becoming the public work director.
• He made a request to visit Pat about the water that collects around the Valdez property down the railroad all the way down to the new dog park.
• Mr. Robinson suggested fixing the street, which has been in disrepair for 20 years, and suggested looking into French trenching as a solution.
Roll Off Removals (V. Cordova)
• She thanked the council for the roll off removals.
• She noted that the roll off on North Avenue A, where the house burnt, is still there.
Mayor Miller
• The mayor referenced an earlier public comment: “Mr. Lentini spoke about street repairs.” The Mayor shared some statistical information regarding the work that’s been performed on city streets:
• 21 miles of street repair was completed last year: 19 miles of resurfacing and two miles of complete reconstruction.
• Several million dollars’ worth of projects are planned for the upcoming fiscal year.
• The Lieutenant Governor gave $350,000.00 to the Animal Shelter.
• Ms. McClellan is waiting on dates for the Lieutenant Governor to visit.
• The website for election results is electionresults.sos.nm.gov.
• The Methodist Church turkey dinner is coming up a week from Thursday on November 13th, from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm and 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm.
• People can eat in, with options for delivery or pickup.
• Tuesday is Veterans Day.
Executive Session and Motions
• A motion was made to convene into closed session to discuss matters provided for under New Mexico statute section 10-15-1 paragraph H (7) meetings subject to attorney-client privilege. Motion made by Ms. Parker. Second, by Ms. Cordova.
• A roll call vote was made. Results, as follows: Ms. Cordova, Mr. Davis, Mr. Lopez, Mr. Merrick, Ms. Parker, Mr. Rackler, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Self—Yes. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried unanimously.
• Executive session began at 6:14 pm. Council Chamber was cleared of all persons except for governing body, city manager and city attorney. Recording was stopped.
• Public and staff were asked to reenter council chambers. Mayor Miller asked for a motion to reconvene in regular session.
• A motion was made to come out of the executive session by Mr. Self. Second, by Mr. Robinson. No roll call vote was made. Council verbally affirmed their unanimous approval. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried.
• Executive session ended. Regular session reopened at 6:45 pm.
• Mayor Miller: Only those matters discussed in the motion to go into executive session were discussed.
• No action was taken.
Adjournment
• Having no further business or questions, Mayor Miller adjourned the meeting at 6:47 pm.
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This is to certify that these Meeting Minutes were approved by city council at their last regular meeting on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 and made available to the public within the OMA required post-meeting time allowance. It is a summary of the above meeting. A full transcription of the meeting can be obtained from the city’s YouTube channel.
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Danielle Swopes, City Clerk, or Melissa Carrillo, Deputy City Clerk
If you are an individual with a disability who needs a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in a hearing or meeting, please contact the Portales City Manager or City Clerk at 575-356-6662, Option #0 at least one (1) week prior to the meeting or as soon as practical. Public documents, including the agenda and minutes, can be provided in various accessible formats. Please contact the Portales City Manager or City Clerk at 575-356-6662 if a summary or other type of accessible format is needed. Questions, requests, or comments from citizens should be submitted in writing to the City Clerk or City Manager by 4:00 p.m. a day prior to the meeting. Contact information for both officers is on the City’s website: https://www.portalesnm.gov/departments/.
