Hurley to contract with Santa Clara for extra police

By The Daily Press Staff

The Hurley Town Council voted unanimously for a short-term deal with the village of Santa Clara to provide additional police coverage for Hurley citizens, contingent upon the approval of the town’s attorney.

Hurley, which has been down to one officer for months, had explored combining its police force with that of the neighboring city of Bayard earlier this year, but the more temporary opportunity to partner with Santa Clara will give the town additional time to recruit its own officers — which the town also made progress toward Tuesday.

“You know, our municipality needs police coverage, and right now we have one officer, one certified officer, and unfortunately that’s just not enough — he has a life; he can’t work all the time,” Hurley Mayor Reynaldo Maynes told the council. “I met with the village of Santa Clara, met with their mayor and his chief, and we came up with an idea that would not take away from their municipality. They currently get three days off, and one of those three days off, they would like to come over here and patrol. We would pay for the overtime [and] the pay they receive, they would use a Hurley Town Police unit and a Hurley Police uniform.”

Maynes said any citations the guest officers would write for offenses against town ordinances would be sent to the Hurley Municipal Court, and the town would receive any fines from those citations. Violations of state laws would be written into magistrate court, just as a Hurley officer would do.

“Either party, we can terminate this agreement within 30 days of written notice,” Maynes said.

The council’s vote to sign on to the memorandum of understanding was made contingent on the approval of the town attorney, who had yet to review the agreement. While Santa Clara Police Chief Lonnie Sandoval told the Daily Press following the meeting that he was ready to begin shifts in Hurley as soon as this weekend, Maynes said his goal was to begin the arrangement Nov. 1.

Later in Tuesday’s council meeting, interim Hurley Police Chief Aaron Ordoñez reported that he had interviewed Isaiah Vega, a candidate for the police force, and said he had been favorably impressed.

“I really enjoyed and thought highly of that energy. He was very respectful,” he said. “He comes from a law enforcement family, so he knows the ins and outs of it.”

He said the candidate had eight months of police experience, but is still uncertified — meaning that he has only a few more months to work in the field before he is required to be enrolled in the police academy.

“He would go through the academy, to Western, where he would use financial aid and whatever other type of assistance that he’s able to get,” Ordoñez said. “He spoke with the director of the academy here, and he’s working on getting everything in order so he can get registered.”

The council voted unanimously to provisionally hire Vega to the police force.

Ordoñez also approached the council about the possibility of offering a sign-on bonus to aid in officer recruitment.

“Unfortunately in the world we live in now, there’s probably very little agencies in the country that aren’t hurting for officers,” Ordoñez said. “We’re a smaller department, so unfortunately we can’t give a $25,000 sign-on bonus like some agencies. But a little bit of incentive can go a long way.”

He said signing bonuses are common in law enforcement, and that other agencies in the area have offered or currently offer them.

“A first initial thought would be, you know, if we do a $5,000 sign-on bonus, you get half when you’re hired, and then you get half after your first year,” Ordoñez suggested.

“I was gonna say, most of the sign-on bonuses I’ve seen is a 24-month period,” Maynes said.

“Something that goes on that long, we’d have to go two years,” Councilor Robert Candelaria echoed.

Town Clerk Darlene McBride noted that the town was receiving GRO funds from the state Legislature for law enforcement, and that money could be used to fund the sign-on bonuses, should the council decide to use it that way.

“We have to use within two years, but it can be used for anything in law enforcement,” she said.

The council directed Ordoñez to prepare a sign-on bonus contract for their approval at a future meeting.

“I think you’re on the right track,” Mayor Maynes said. “We can’t pay what other agencies can, but we can do something.”

The council also discussed the purchase of a new police unit, but postponed that decision until their November meeting. They did vote, however, to send Ordoñez to a law enforcement training conference and expo Nov. 4-6 in Ruidoso.

Councilors proclaimed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and heard a presentation from Tree New Mexico representative Kendra Milligan, who is seeking volunteers for an Oct. 17 tree planting in Hurley. The urban forestry program is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Milligan said the Hurley project represented a $6,000 investment by the organization.

“Thirty-four homeowners will be adopting 50 trees,” she told the council. “October 17, we’ll be meeting for volunteers to register from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the A Street Park, and we’re going to have lunch afterward thanks to the generous donation of your local restaurant, Chili Charm. We’re also going to be following up with a free tree giveaway on Monday the 19th for the general public from 5:30 to 6:30 at A Street Park as well. Anybody who volunteers gets first dibs on the giveaway.”

Milligan said the organization had already held tree plantings in Silver City and in Bayard, but the need in Hurley is particularly acute.

“Your community has the highest heat index of any municipality in Grant County,” she told the council. “It makes quite a difference with the heat your community experiences, and we hope that it’ll lower the temperature a little.”

To volunteer, fill out the online form at bit.ly/sctreevolunteer.

Under reports, Candelaria told the council that Corazon de Hurley is putting together a map of houses in Hurley that will be offering candy to trick-or-treaters this Halloween.

“If anybody wants to hand out candy … they can add your house to the map so kids can know where to go, you know, what’s safe,” he said.

“Their intent is to bring back door-to-door trick-or-treating,” McBride added.

Mayor Maynes reported that he had helped out with the Mining District trash cleanup last week, and said eight and a half roll-off dumpsters had been filled across all three communities.

Councilor Jason Cox was absent from the meeting, and Councilor Aron Phillips attended by phone. The next regular meeting of the Hurley Town Council will be held Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. in the Hurley Community Center.