Crime at Quay Apartments discussed

Tucumcari city commissioners during a work session Thursday discussed with Monarch Properties officials how to improve security at the troubled Quay Apartments, including possibly letting a city police officer live there for free.

Tucumcari Police Chief Patti Lopez said she didn't have data on the number of police calls at Quay Apartments but confirmed it was a problem area for crime.

"We go there a lot," she said. 'It's bad right now over there."

Commissioner CJ Oglesby said the Quay Apartments are in his district and that he receives many complaints about gunshots and noise.

A Quay County Sun check of records by the county's 911 center showed 28 calls of service by first responders to the Quay Apartments from Aug. 5 to Sept. 8.

Longtime Tucumcari residents colloquially call the apartments "the Crazy Quays."

Claudina Garcia, regional supervisor for Monarch, acknowledged "a lot of issues" at the 50-unit complex at 702 W. Sunset Ave. and detailed her company's efforts to heighten security presence there.

Garcia said she was working with New Mexico State Police officer Xavier Garcia to make more patrols at the apartments during his graveyard shift and was asking TPD for "more police presence" there.

She said she was talking to the district attorney's office about a grant to update security cameras. Garcia said she was talking to Xcel Energy to install more security lighting there.

Garcia said it cost Monarch $11,000 a month to hire security personnel at another of its properties.

"We can't afford $11,000 a month" at the Quay Apartments, she said.

Former city commissioner and future assistant city manager Renee Hayoz asked whether Monarch could offer a free apartment to a police officer.

Jessica Chavez, another Monarch regional supervisor, replied, "It's something we definitely can look at."

She said she would have to look at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations for that proposal. Chavez said an apartment of up to three bedrooms might be available in such an arrangement.

Chavez said Monarch is motivated to address crime because of a spat of vandalism there. In one month earlier this year, it sustained about $3,000 in damage.

Monarch officials said the Quay Apartments manager does not live on-site. Her hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, though a maintenance worker resides there.

Chavez said Monarch runs background checks on Quay Apartment applicants but cannot evict residents based on hearsay. She indicated the company is restricted by HUD regulations.

Garcia said crime remains a problem in many low-income housing complexes in the United States.

"It's in every city, not just Tucumcari," she said. "It's an ongoing issue. It didn't happen overnight."

City manager Paula Chacon said she also receives complaints from nearby residents that Quay Apartment tenants are dumping trash into their Dumpsters when the complex's two trash receptacles are full.

The complex's manager said trash is being removed once a week instead of the required two times. Chacon said she knows the commercial trash-truck driver and doubts he is not picking up garbage the required twice a week.

Action items

Commissioners approved a resolution of support for an application for $1.7 million for the second phase of the Tucumcari MainStreet Great Blocks project.

Tucumcari MainStreet director Connie Loveland said the application includes the potential of no local match for the project because of the organization's previous work with Great Blocks.

She said Stantec Engineering estimates the project would cost $1.6 million. It would improve Main Street from First to Third streets.

- Commissioners approved park and parade permits for the Quay County Health Council's annual 5-kilometer run/walk on Sept. 28. The event begins at Kvols Park and uses Hines Avenue, 11th Street, Washington Avenue and Second Street.

- Commissioners approved a street-closure permit for the Fired Up festival last Saturday.

- Commissioners approved the use of $3,500 in lodgers tax funds to buy banners and awards for the Fired Up car show. The funds were reallocated from a proposed ad campaign that New Mexico Tourism rejected.

- Commissioners approved required elements and city signatories to receive $550,000 in federal Community Development Block grant funds, with a $50,000 local match, to re-roof the Tucumcari Recreation Center.

- Commissioners approved a proclamation for Constitution Week from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23, commemorating the 237th anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

- Approval of the consent agenda included accepting the resignation of library board member Rachel Manuele and appointing Benito Sanchez to replace her.

- The commission delayed action on a tourism marketing contract with Gray Digital Media of Amarillo.

Job interviews

Commissioners held interviews Friday with three candidates for the open District 4 seat, including its former commissioner.

The candidates are:

- Former District 4 commissioner Christopher Arias, who resigned for personal reasons a year ago;

- Khrishana Sandoval, manager at Rocky Mountain Cannabis;

- Clayton Thorne, owner of the CCMS motorcycle repair shop.

They seek to fill the seat held by Renee Hayoz, who resigned to take the assistant city manager position.

Commissioners selected a half-dozen questions from the human relations department that City Clerk Angelica Gray read to applicants. Interviews were five to 10 minutes each.

Arias said he stepped down last year because he needed to "prioritize my family more than I was. I now have a better support system."

He said he would respect other commissioners' opinions. "I have no ill will for any of you here."

Sandoval touted her master's degree in business and her background as a former paralegal.

"You need a woman in here," she remarked, sparking laughter from some commissioners.

Thorne cited his background as a business owner and former union steward.

Regarding differences between commissioners, he said: "I can agree to disagree comfortably."

Commissioners likely will make their choice for District 4 on Sept. 24.

Reports, comments

During her manager's report, Chacon reported that Loveland recently secured a $12,000 grant from Union Pacific Railroad for the Hometown Heroes Park initiative near the Sands Dorsey site downtown.

Chacon said it hasn't been determined how to use the grant, but a mural was most likely.

The idea for Hometown Heroes Park came from Anthony Kent, who two years ago proposed a memorial for deceased New Mexico civil rights activist Alice Faye Kent Hoppes, a Tucumcari native. Kent was Hoppes' nephew.

- Chacon said she has rescheduled the use of a state-owned street sweeper to remove vegetation in the streets and gutters.

- She detailed ongoing efforts to repair lights on Main Street. She said 12 of the 28 lights were not working.

- The local Route 66 centennial task force held its first meeting last month, with its next meeting set for Sept. 18. David Brenner is the chairman. The highway's centennial will be 2026.

- Oglesby said a recent rec board meeting generated "a lot of good ideas," including the possibility of a cornhole tournament during the tourism offseason.

Oglesby said a recent cornhole tourney by the Elks Lodge drew 70 teams. He said a city-run tournament would need 15 to 20 boards.

Oglesby also said 68 teams participated in the Santa Rosa Summer Slam 3-on-3 basketball event. He said he would check to see whether Santa Rosa would sell seven or eight goals not used during the event so Tucumcari could organize one.

- During public comments, new resident Sammy Garcia complained about the city's website, burned-out houses and vegetation in the streets and gutters. "We've got to clean up our act," he said.

Other items

During a work session Thursday, city finance director Hallie Ferguson said she recommends the commission approve its fiscal-year 2025 budget and adjusting it later.

She said the longer the city goes without a budget, the more it endangers state funding, including capital outlay.

Chacon said she anticipated having the budget ready for approval by late September. Without it, she said the city could lose match waivers for transportation projects, costing thousands of dollars.

One complication is the city's auditor for FY2023, Axiom CPAs of Albuquerque, recently was acquired by CLA. Ferguson said no exit interview on the audit has been scheduled, and the company "won't give us a straight answer" when that might occur.