Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham held the first of three planned public safety town hall meetings in Las Cruces on Thursday to promote her special session legislative agenda despite Democrats in the legislature saying her bills have substantive issues.
Lujan Grisham took the stage flanked by Doña Ana District Attorney Gerald Byers, Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story, Doña Ana County Director of Health and Human Services Jamie Michael and New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen. Lujan Grisham spoke about how much she has seen the streets of her neighborhood in Santa Fe change over the last five years. She said she is picking up trash in public parks and finding needles. She also said two members of her own family have addiction issues and another member of her family was assaulted in her house.
The town hall drew a reported 500 people from the community and ran over the planned two hours to continue for six hours until 11:30 p.m. Many people stood up and told terrible stories about crimes committed.
Lujan Grisham said the competency and commitment bills that were a part of her special session legislative agenda are “the nexus that must be addressed for this state.”
Lujan Grisham also tried to have other bills passed during the special session, including one that is often called a panhandling bill. That bill, as well as the involuntary commitment bill, have drawn criticism by legislators and advocates alike for its potential to violate constitutional rights.
Democrats in the legislature in both the state Senate and House stood as a body against Lujan Grisham’s special session agenda, saying during a press conference that they would not consider the proposed legislation for substantive reasons. A Republican, Mark Moores, of Albuquerque, sponsored her proposed legislation.
A group of 41 individuals who work in behavioral health and advocacy organizations also urged Lujan Grisham to reconsider the special session and when she refused, they condemned her proposals. The legislature passed only one bill, the budget bill for the one-day session that paid for the session itself and provided funding for victims of fire and flood in Lincoln County this summer.
Related: Legislators pass disaster assistance funding, end special session quickly
One of the frequent complaints made by individuals was about a lack of police response to crimes, particularly to petty theft and property crimes.
Story said the police are understaffed and under-resourced and, as a result, they have to prioritize the calls to which they respond.
Several small business owners spoke about the difficulties of operating a business when individuals with criminal intent enter their establishments and also complained about a lack of police response.
Lujan Grisham said her office thinks retail and misdemeanor crimes are likely under-reported because business owners expect police will not respond.
Lujan Grisham said medication-assisted treatment centers exist in most counties through the public health offices. She also said the state is on a clinical trial wait list for permission from the federal government to use other addiction strategies that are proving to be effective.
She said she is also seeking federal government approval for community-based health centers. She said the state and families need a process to require humane constitutional mandatory treatment for mental health and substance abuse disorder.
“People don’t like to hear that,” Lujan Grisham said.
Some criticized Lujan Grisham. One, who identified herself only as “Lillian,” said she was “very disappointed” with the bills that “target unhoused folks.”
Another criticized Lujan Grisham for using “tough-on-crime” rhetoric.
Lujan Grisham said it is not her intention to discriminate or treat people in an inhumane way. She called it a circular system of risk because individuals who are unhoused are often the victims of crime and that many who need services will not voluntarily seek it out.
Lujan Grisham said that often, if the court orders an individual to seek behavioral health treatment, the individuals do not go and do not face consequences for the inaction.
Some challenged Lujan Grisham, saying she needed to work with the groups who condemned her special session, and that she needed to listen more to the advocates. One said it is not true that people do not seek out behavioral health that, instead, it is very difficult to get.
One asked why Lujan Grisham continued with the special session even after advocacy groups and individuals who condemned the process due to its lack of voices with lived-experience and behavioral health professionals.
Lujan Grisham said she has gone to the legislature several times over the past five years and that there are hundreds of other organizations who have been asking her to take action on public safety.
“I’m sorry we disagree. Maybe there are things we can agree on,” Lujan Grisham said.
One action that is expected to help, is that through opioid settlement money, Las Cruces will be receiving $24 million over 18 years, Michael said.
Michael said the city and county are working together to coordinate those investments and that the state will also receive a separate settlement from the national opioid settlement. In 2021 a national settlement was resolved against three pharmaceutical companies to pay $21 billion over 18 years nationally for their role in the opioid crisis. Lujan Grisham also said she wants to put funding toward affordable housing. She also said the state has committed $1.8 billion dollars to public safety and “it’s not enough.”
Marianna Gallegos, who advocates for early child development, said through a translator that she has experienced violent crime in her neighborhood and she wanted to know how the state can better implement punishment for the bad actors.
Lujan Grisham said the state needs more police officers and stiffer penalties.
“I hear you. I’m frustrated, too. There’s not a lot of evidence that says longer time in prison means you’ll stop someone. But if it stops you from being on my street after you tried to murder; if it stops you from getting my son or daughter from getting addicted to drugs, I’m in,” Lujan Grisham said.
Another who spoke said there needs to be more judges in Las Cruces to handle the number of cases and that Albuquerque has a better staffed judicial court than the rest of the state. Lujan Grisham said she would try to find funding to hire more attorneys for the Doña Ana District Attorney’s office. She said that is “a 60-day [legislature] issue.”
Some individuals got emotional while talking to Lujan Grisham and some brought up issues that are not public safety related. One individual complained about the lack of lighting in a colonias town in Doña Ana County and Lujan Grisham said she would try to include funding in the upcoming legislature to improve street lighting.