KRWG is profiling all of the Las Cruces Mayoral Candidates ahead of the November 3rd Election. The third candidate to profile is Councilor Miguel Silva.
Silva isn’t running for re-election because he originally campaigned on term limits, but he still feels like there is more to do in the city, so he is running for Mayor.
“I think that opportunities lay ahead of us,” Silva said. “I feel being an engaged Mayor and an advocate for the city that allows us the opportunity to develop our economy, and create jobs and to help mom and pop businesses. Also to address the infrastructure needs that we have ahead of us and so I’m really looking forward to being the next Mayor.”
Silva says his biggest accomplishments as a councilor for District 1 center around Downtown.
“The downtown development,” Silva said. “We opened the road entirely from North to South. And also steering the Farmer’s Market to be self-governing. That’s I think one of the bigger accomplishments because we really led them to believe in themselves, that they could self-managed themselves, and they have just totally prospered.”
Silva is campaigning on the idea that Las Cruces is not business friendly and he is looking to change that.
“I think the biggest problem,” Silva said. “When you look at it from the business community, the business community definitely is how do we become more business friendly, and that one definitely has to do with a lot of the bureaucracy that has been put in place for a while, and that we need to work through. I think one of the biggest challenges, and people realize it is that we are still in this recession, and how do we move forward as a community, and I think that’s going to be one of our bigger challenges.”
Silva’s attitude toward business has earned him an endorsement from the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, and he wants to start on these issues Day 1 if he is elected.
“How do we cut through that red tape per say that we hear,” Silva said. “We are constantly hearing about the challenges, I was at an event last night where a person came up to me and told me it took them an entire year to obtain his business license and to open his front doors. And we’ve heard these stories over and over, but for some reason we just cannot go that second or third step. We need to as a council push forward with that agenda.”
Silva also says he would be willing to push back the next phase of the minimum wage increase, depending on the effect he sees the increase has had on the community.
“I anticipate another vote coming forward in June,” Silva said. “And I think that’s one that we are going to have to review very closely and listen to all parties. At the last discussion this past June, you had non-profits coming forward and saying how minimum wage effects them, you had businesses come forward, and members of the community as well. So, I think it’s something that we are going to have to look at very closely before we move forward with a second or third increase.”
Silva also wants to push for quality of life improvements to help spur economic development.
“I say if we were to have a competitive pool, an aquatic pool and so forth,” Silva said. “Yes, people will move to Las Cruces because they see those quality of life improvements.”
Silva says he voted against the last GRT tax increase, but now that it’s passed some of those funds could be put toward quality of life.
“As we know they were not earmarked for anything,” Silva said. “So that leaves a lot of room for community input to move forward with addressing a lot of those infrastructure needs that are needed, some of the economic development projects that are needed, and quality of life as well in terms of parks and so forth.”
Silva says he would like to see some of the economic development funds go to economic gardening programs as well to help business already established in Las Cruces.
