One of the strategies of the Southern New Mexico Chapter of Common Cause is to encourage responsible government by monitoring the board meetings of the following  groups on a regular basis:

1. Las Cruces City Council
2. Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education
3. Dona Ana County Board of Commissioners
4. Las Cruces Housing Authority
5. New Mexico State University Board of Regents
6. Las Cruces Planning and Zoning Commission

These are all groups  that are subject to the Open Meetings and Open Records Laws.

Some reports on the observations are included in the minutes of the chapter and most are available here under the name of the organization observed.

Many of these observations are conducted in cooperation with the League of Women Voters of Greater Las Cruces.

 We envision the role of the Common Cause volunteer who agrees to monitor one or more meetings of these groups would be as follows: 

1. Attend the meeting and wear the Common Cause button to indicate your affiliation.
2. Observe the meeting to see how they deal with process, noting the following things:

a)      Are the meetings well publicized in advance?

b)      Are the meetings held at a convenient time for citizens?

c)      Is information about agenda items available to citizens?

d)      Are the meetings open?

e)      Do they close meetings?  If so, for what purpose?

f)       How are the budget and expenditures (tax issues) handled?

g)      Do elected members attend meetings regularly?

h)      And watch for other pertinent issues that Common Cause might want to pursue.

3.       When identifying a matter of concern or interest, contact our governing board chairperson, so it can be brought to the attention of the group.

You can see in the table below the times and places that each group meets. These dates and times are subject to change. Contact the appropriate organization for current information. 

The monitoring of meetings is an important form of citizen participation which appears to be making a difference in the openness of meetings.