Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (middle) is joined by area leaders for a public safety town hall in Alamogordo on Jan. 8, 2025.
Alamogordo resident Christopher Douglas recalls being able to ride his bike everywhere while growing up in the southern New Mexico city. There was no thought of danger or risk like he has experienced in more recent years.
“This was a wonderful community and now, I want to get out. That’s what’s happening in New Mexico,” Douglas said during a town hall Wednesday evening in Alamogordo, the latest in a series of public safety town halls around the state held by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who attended along with local and state officials.
Audience members gathered at the New Mexico State University-Alamogordo campus and touched on the topics of supportive services for unhoused people, criminal competency, economic development and law enforcement.
The governor has hosted several town halls throughout the state since last summer, starting with Las Cruces in July, previewing an expected emphasis on crime initiatives in the next legislative session starting Jan. 21.
“We need to be able to express how we feel here and we’re not Las Cruces, we’re Alamogordo. I think it’s very obvious we’re a lot different,” Alamogordo Mayor Susan Payne said of her town, which is located about an hour northeast of Las Cruces.
Michael Coleman, spokesperson for the governor’s office, said there were about 120 people in the room at the fullest point of the event, which lasted nearly six hours.
Many people used their time at the microphone to tell leaders about their experiences of being victims of violence or personal family experiences with drug addiction. Others reflected on how the community has changed since they were children to now, and the decline in safety they’ve seen.
Lujan Grisham said that was a large part in why she was in Alamogordo and hosting these town halls.
“I don’t recognize parts of many New Mexico communities,” the governor said.
Several people asked if dilapidated or unused buildings in town could be refurbished as shelter for unhoused people. One man even offered his own building which he said is only used for storage currently.
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Lujan Grisham brought up criminal competency at the start of the town hall and said more than 16,000 cases in the state have been dismissed due to criminal competency since 2016. She said because of this, people in need of help are not connected to the correct services and are susceptible to repeat offenses.
Dayna Jones, the district defender for the 12th Judicial District, pushed back saying that at least in the district where she works, most competency cases are not dismissed.
“It is factually inaccurate that people have 30 or 40 violent felonies and they’re getting their cases dismissed. That does not happen. You don’t have to take my word for it, you can get the information from the court,” Jones said.
Jones said a new competency diversion program was recently started in the area to help people who have misdemeanor charges that would normally be dismissed. If the person agrees to the program, providers connect them to services to help stabilize them.
Kayla Blanchard pointed out the shortage of behavioral health professionals in the Alamogordo area and proposed that New Mexico social workers join an interstate compact. This would allow New Mexico to partner with other states and create a regional standard as well as potentially allow providers to apply for multistate licenses in the other compact areas.
Lujan Grisham said she is looking into that solution and agreed that it is difficult to recruit and retain behavioral health providers. She added that she believes New Mexico is leading the country in policy work surrounding behavioral health, however, “misperceptions” stymie recruiting efforts.
“We’re missing something.There is a sense by far too many practitioners that this is not a friendly state to work in,” Lujan Grisham said. “I’m working on that.”
Attendee David Lucoski brought up the need for better economic development to bring more employers into the area. He described it as “the cornerstone to reduce crime” because more people would be working and earning an income.
Several people discussed red flag laws and the problem with firearms still finding their way into the hands of dangerous people. Lujan Grisham pointed to a lack of accountability.
“New Mexico has a terrible … accountability issue with all of the laws that we’ve passed that require protection, particularly here, for domestic violence victims and others,” the governor said.
She said an independent review of such laws several years ago found that the state has “good laws on the books,” but departments and jurisdictions do not execute the laws.
“This is an area that I’m very upset about, very concerned about,” Lujan Grisham said. “I’m going to fight a lot harder to require that you follow the law in those circumstances when you fail to do so, at all junctions of the judicial system.”
Crime legislation was a focal point for the governor during the 2024 legislative session. Lawmaker’s inaction on her proposals was the reason she called a special session in July. Lujan Grisham voiced her frustration when lawmakers again did not move forward with her proposals.
The governor’s next public safety town hall will be in Raton on Monday, Jan. 13. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the 5:30 p.m. meeting at the Shuler Theater.
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