Mariah Hernandez wants to address crime as 2023 Las Cruces Mayoral candidate

Mariah Hernandez has never ran for an elected position.

Hernandez, who describes herself as "just a normal person seeing some problems in the City," is one of seven candidates vying to replace long-time Mayor Ken Miyagishima, who is not running for reelection.

Absentee and early voting runs through Nov. 4 and Nov. 7 is Election Day.

Background on Mariah Hernandez

Hernandez grew up in Grants and said she moved to Las Cruces 20 years ago.

Hernandez, 40, met her husband, Jesse Hernandez in Las Cruces and they currently make their living in real estate.

"I've been here for 20 years, and the last three years, I have seen things going downhill and I think things need to change," Hernandez said. "The crime, vandalism, trespassing and breaking and entering and you can't go to the park without checking for needles if you want to let your kids go play. That's just wrong."

Hernandez, herself an entrepreneur, and her husband were involved in the construction of The Bronx, a strip club contained in a 4,000-square-foot, steel-frame building next to Eros, the adult-themed book and video store on the 2200 block of Westgate Court. The project was was originally proposed in 2012 and a special use permit, required to put in that type of business, was denied by the city’s Planning and Zoning commission. Central Park LLC, the company applying to build The Bronx, appealed the denial and eventually won a special use permit from city council.

Hernandez said the city needs to continue to attract new and diverse businesses - not necessarily more cannabis shops.

"We need to bring in jobs," Mariah Hernandez said. "Your biggest investment is to buy a house. You have higher interest rates and the increase in costs for everything. We are not going to get there if you don't have the jobs and the industry to get us there. I think that is something that is important too."

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Why should Las Cruces elect you as mayor?

Hernandez said she's voice similar concerns to other candidates regarding crime, much of which have been informed by her real estate experience.

Hernandez said there have been multiple incidents in which her various properties have been damaged.

"We need new ordinances in order to address these issues and new people in City Council, who would work with me to resolve these issues," Hernandez said.

"We need to get people off the streets, we need to stop them from committing the crimes and we need to support our police department. They are getting frustrated that they have to release people before they get their paperwork done."

Do you believe that the Las Cruces Police Department needs reform?

"I don't think that they need reform, I think they need support and they need better training and we need more police," Hernandez said.

On Oct. 3, Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Las Cruces Police Department officer Brad Lunsford would be charged with voluntary manslaughter (a third degree felony) for the Aug. 2, 2022 shooting death of 36-year-old Presley C. Eze Jr., at a Las Cruces gas station.

During the press conference in which Torrez announced the charges, LCPD announced another officer involved shooting where 45-year-old Teresa Gomez was killed on Oct. 3 around 4:45 a.m., according to Las Cruces Police, when she came into contact with an officer patrolling the area on a bicycle. The release also said that Gomez, who was driving a black 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer was accompanied by Jesus Garcia, 38, who was arrested on multiple warrants, police said.

"I don't know if it's happening here more than somewhere else," Hernandez said. "It is a problem, but it can be addressed by better training. We have to see who is training these people and how they are being trained and make sure it's being done in the correct manner."

Hernandez said she wants to increase the police force. The current city council and mayor approved a staffing increase from about 200 to 220 in June.

"We can't go and expect them to take care of the entire city when we have enough police to allocate to a small corner," Hernandez said. "The current mayor said we have a problem with the vandalism, so want to put more patrol downtown. Our city is more than downtown and if we don't have the police to cover it, we have a problem."

As mayor, what would you do regarding a rise in certain types of crime?

"That is kind of the whole basis of my campaign that there is so much crime," Hernandez said. "Again we need to support our police, but we need ordinances for that. There are a lot of people who don't want to change and they are not going to change. But that doesn't mean we should let them vandalize our things or walk in our front door steal everything and walk out the back door. That is not how things should be. That is the way the city right now is letting it be."

Las Cruces saw increases in some crimes, such as aggravated assaults (non-fatal shootings), burglaries, and vehicle thefts over the last decade. Many other types of crime fell or did not increase during the same period.

"Without changing the crime and vandalism, we are not going to get anywhere," Hernandez said.

What changes, if any, should be made to the rules in Las Cruces regarding cannabis and dispensaries?

"We need to stick to our ordinances," Hernandez said. "We can't have them on every single corner. It should be taken care of the same way you take care of liquor licenses."

Las Cruces has received excise tax revenue from 67 dispensaries in city limits since recreational sales started in April of 2022.

Hernandez said she would support a cap on licenses for cannabis businesses.

"If you overload the city with cannabis shops, there is going to be a collapse and people will be getting evicted from these buildings," Hernandez said. "Why aren't we bringing in other businesses that can fill in these areas other than cannabis shops because we see dollar signs."

The city approved special use permits that went against some of the State regulations and allowed cannabis businesses to open next to one another, although they are still prohibited from opening within 300 feet of schools and single-family homes.

"We need rules and regulations on where they are located and how far apart they are, which we have, but we are not following them," Hernandez said.

Is the City doing enough to affect the crisis in affordable housing?

"No. As far as affordable housing goes, I keep hearing people say we need to diversify people. How are you going to diversify people by getting a bunch of affordable housing projects and putting them in one area where you are going to stick low income people," Hernandez said. "That doesn't diversify and doesn't fix any of the problems."

The city estimates that Las Cruces is roughly 5,600 units short of meeting the demand for multi-family housing. In 2022, Las Cruces voters approved a GO Bond measure to send $6 million to affordable housing projects.

"I think that you should allocate some money to buy houses around town that are either going to be torn down or need remodeling so that we can revitalize some neighborhoods and help with housing at the same time," Hernandez said.

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Mariah Hernandez wants to address crime as Las Cruces Mayoral candidate