Bill Mattiace Campaign Platform

Here are the issues that I believe are important to all of us here in Las Cruces.

Public Trust and Open Government

I realize that trust is at a low point and I believe the best way to restore that trust is through a policy of transparency. The citizens must be able to see exactly what is going on in their government, and what their elected officials do with their tax money. The city must stop filtering public information as it’s released. City officials have too long underestimated and ignored the intelligence and value of every voter AND non-voter in this city. I want the public to have the truth and have it on time.

Economic Development

I believe that government doesn’t create jobs. Government’s role is to create an atmosphere for business to create jobs. So my vision for economic development is to increase the safety of our city by lowering crime and creating an aesthetically pleasing community by controlling urban blight. Our city workers do a great job, but we can all do better. If we do, businesses will know we’re serious about attracting them here.

Fire and Emergency Services

Since my election, first respondents at the 911 call center have improved drastically, but I believe we can take it to an even higher level. There’s no reason the second largest City can’t be rated number one in service to it’s citizens. That means we need to be first in compensation, training and equipment. Our personnel deserve it and so do our citizens.

Water

Our city needs a clear water conservation policy and needs to move forward in its construction of a water reclamation plant with federal, state, and city funds. We need to draft a concise ten-year plan for water consumption and water quality. I’m proud of our City Utilities Department and in particular its Director, Dr. Jorge Garcia. He has been a masterful adviser to the city council and has created a professional and efficient enterprise of all the city utilities.

Large Projects

When we talk about the Convention Center and Downtown Revitalization, we need to stop talking about not having them and start talking about how we will have them. Be positive and explore what is the best approach to integrating these very necessary city projects. The same is true for new parks and recreation areas and senior centers. The responsibility of the mayor and city government should be to prove how these projects recover the investment in them. We need to look at how to best get a return on our efforts in these long reaching projects and that return is measured in Quality of Life for our citizens AND our potential citizens. These projects make the Mesilla Valley and our city attractive to us and our visitors who may want to relocate here.

Charter Review

The Charter for the city was written in 1985. After almost 20 years it seems necessary to review that document that may have served us well, but could not possibly have foreseen everything that has happened since its inception. We need to remove the shackles of those elected by the people keeping them from engaging with city operations as it benefits the welfare of the city and not the official.