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Las Cruces council finds referendum petition insufficient, leaves Realize Las Cruces ordinance in effect
Summary
The City Council voted to deny sufficiency of a petition to refer the Realize Las Cruces development code to a public vote after the city clerk validated 2,547 signatures, below the 3,240 required under the charter. Petitioners and supporters contended procedural errors and thrown-out signatures; council majority upheld clerk’s tally.
The Las Cruces City Council voted May 19 to deny the sufficiency of a petition seeking to put Ordinance 3090, known as Realize Las Cruces, on the ballot, leaving the ordinance in effect.
City Clerk Christine Rivera told the council the petition process produced a grand total of 2,547 valid signatures, below the charter-required 3,240. "So the grand total of valid signatures was 2,547, which was less than the 3,240 required," Rivera said during her presentation about the petition timeline and validation steps.
Petition organizers said the city’s handling of the validation process and a series of administrative delays cost them signatures. Organizer Sarah Smith told the council the petition gathered 4,671 signatures and argued many valid names were later invalidated. She said the city delayed providing critical guidance early in the campaign and then excluded later-collected signatures. "We collected over 4,600, yet about 1,200 of those signatures have now been thrown out without due process," Smith said during public comment.
Supporters of the ordinance urged the council to uphold the clerk’s determination, saying petitioners had the full set of rules and opportunities to collect valid signatures. Several speakers told council they were concerned about misinformation delivered during door-to-door petitioning and urged officials to respect representative government and the review already performed by staff.
The council’s recorded vote on Resolution 25-142 — the resolution determining petition sufficiency — was 6–1 against finding the petition sufficient (Councilor Matisse voted yes; Councilors McClure, Graham, Curran, Flores, Bencomo and Mayor Enriquez voted no). Council members voting no said the clerk's validation followed the charter and municipal procedures.
The petitioners urged further review in public and legal forums and said they would consider next steps. The council’s decision today keeps the Realize Las Cruces development code in effect; the ordinance was originally adopted Feb. 18, 2025.
What happens next: The council’s denial of petition sufficiency preserves the ordinance as adopted. Petition organizers and some residents said they may pursue additional remedies; no further council action on the petition was scheduled at the meeting’s close.
