Silver City Council Approves Museum Society Agreement by 2-1 Vote

The Silver City Town Council approved a memorandum of understanding with the Silver City Museum Society on Tuesday night by a vote of 2-1 — over the objection of the councilor who helped negotiate it.

District 2 Councilor Nick Prince and District 3 Councilor Stan Snider voted in favor. District 1 Councilor Angela Salaiz voted against. District 4 Councilor Victor Nañez was absent. The vote followed a half-hour executive session in which the council discussed pending litigation.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a non-binding framework document that sets out how two organizations will work together. This one still needs approval from the Museum Society's board of directors before it takes effect.

What does the agreement change?

Prince argued the document settles a long-running dispute between the town and the society, and will hold up beyond the present moment.

"I'm satisfied with this document as being a lasting one, then, particularly having gone through a stressful period," he said. "And I do see this as one, then, that has created a foundation that will prevent issues like this from coming up again in the future."

Snider agreed the council had to stop circling the issue. "I think it's a good document. I think at some point in time, it needs to be put out there," he said. "We can't just keep going back and forth over this, and I think we need to make a decision at some point — and I think we're at that point."

Once finalized, Snider said, the agreement puts responsibility on the society and the Silver City Museum to cooperate. "It's going to be up to the Museum Society and museum to work together for the good of the museum," he said. Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith added: "Through the town manager."

Why Salaiz voted no

Salaiz said the society's attorney, Christopher Saucedo, sent an email dated Nov. 4 requesting a meeting with her and Prince — the council's appointed negotiators — along with acting Town Manager Milo Lambert, Town Attorney Charles Kretek, society board President Raul Turrieta and society Treasurer Rick Johnson. She read part of the email during the discussion.

"They asked for this meeting for a reason, and I don't want to push this through until we sit down and hear them out on whatever remaining issues that there are," Salaiz said.

She warned that approving the MOU without that meeting could backfire publicly. "We're going to push this through, and then what? They don't agree to it," she said. "And then what does that look like to the public? It looks like the society's not playing the game."

"We are this close," she added, holding up two fingers. "One meeting is not going to kill us."

Wheaton-Smith asked Kretek whether he had spoken with Saucedo since the Nov. 4 email. "At least three, and one email," Kretek said. Snider noted the society's board could still request a meeting after receiving the council-approved MOU, and Wheaton-Smith said any such meeting would belong to the society's president and the town manager. He credited Prince, Assistant Town Manager Jacqui Olea, Lambert and Kretek for the work behind the document.

Meeting schedule and other business

Salaiz had signaled her unease earlier, during discussion of canceling the Nov. 24 regular meeting for Thanksgiving. She worried the second December meeting would also be canceled for the holidays, leaving the MOU in limbo. "I am very wary of canceling this altogether. I would entertain rescheduling it, perhaps," she said. Wheaton-Smith said meeting schedules are fixed by January resolution, though a special meeting could be called — and all councilors said they'd attend one. Salaiz ultimately joined the 3-0 vote to cancel; the council next meets Dec. 8.

The council also unanimously approved an on-premises beer and wine license, including the patio, for La Vie Est Un Bistro at 100 W. Eighth St. Owner Jason Pierre, a former executive chef at Western New Mexico University, said the bistro recently moved into the old Lions Clubhouse. "This is my gift to the county, to the town, in doing this," he said.

Police Chief Freddie Portillo reported a new crime-mapping tool that plots offense reports on an interactive map — "so the community can go and they can see actual crime that's reported within the town" — plus district-by-district October call reports posted to the department's Facebook page.

Lambert reported the 2022 Community Development Block Grant project for Chihuahua Hill streets and drainage is nearing completion; Swan Street design is done, with bids likely early next year; Mill Road sewer bypass tie-ins start Thursday; and Chloride Flats north water tank renovations are finished. The Fire Department received a $386,000 state fire fund grant for new radios, and the library will receive a state grant. Lambert also said Deputy Fire Chief Eloy Vasquez addressed an Oct. 28 Motel 6 complaint raised by travel influencers Out Here with Josh and Ryan, with a corrective action plan now in place.

The council's approval now moves the MOU to the Museum Society's board, whose acceptance — likely routed through Turrieta and Lambert — will determine whether the document ends the dispute or prolongs it.