A change to the City of Española’s ad hoc committee to address the homelessness issues in the community is already off to a difficult start.
Last week, Mayor John Ramon Vigil announced the new members of the Coalition to Affect Homelessness, the latest iteration of the Unhoused and Unsheltered Committee he created in 2024. While these committees cannot make any legally binding decisions, mayors can create them at their discretion to focus on different issues in the community.
According to a March 19 press release by Human Resources Director Sally Baxter regarding the Coalition to Affect Homelessness, the nominations for new committee members include District 4 City Councilor Sam LeDoux for committee chair, along with members District 2 Councilor Nanette Rodriguez, District 3 Councilor Felicia Archuleta-Toya and District 3 Councilor Denise Benavidez.
Social Services Director Michelle Fraire will continue to serve as the committee’s administrative support staff member, Vigil said in a previous telephone interview.
District 1 Councilor Pedro Valdez, who was a member of the Unhoused and Unsheltered Committee, was not nominated.
In a telephone interview, LeDoux said he decided to decline the chairmanship due to his mother’s recent cancer diagnosis.
He wrote an email addressed to Vigil and sent to several members of the council, City Manager Eric Lujan, City Clerk Carla Martinez and Fraire, on March 20, explaining why he could not accept the position.
In the email, LeDoux said he was appreciative of the nomination, and that it showed “a lot of growth and maturity on (Vigil’s) part to put aside differences in an attempt to get something done about this huge issue impacting our community.”
Vigil did not return a phone call asking for his response to LeDoux’s decision.
In a previous telephone interview, Vigil said the creation of this committee is a direct result of the controversial pallet home proposal discussed at the Feb. 25 city council meeting. During that meeting, Vigil, Lujan, council members and the public discussed proposals from Fraire about the creation of a temporary and long-term transitional housing development in El Llano. The homes for this development would be lent to Española by the City of Santa Fe, Fraire and Benavidez said during the meeting.
The situation became convoluted, with several council members in disagreement about whether they had any prior knowledge of the proposal. The confusion continued when, in a subsequent interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican, Fraire provided conflicting information as to how the conversation started with the City of Santa Fe about the temporary housing development.
Social media
Much of the controversy surrounding the pallet homes occurred on Facebook, with several community members alleging they found out about the transitional housing development for the first time through the website.
LeDoux posted his response regarding the committee chairman nomination via a video on his personal Facebook page.
In the video, he said Vigil did not contact him prior to the press release and that Benavidez was unaware she was being removed as the committee chair person.
The committee membership was on the agenda to be discussed during the March 25 council meeting and was listed as the last item on the agenda posted on the City’s website as of press time.