Los Alamos Inclusivity Task Force approves County Council presentation, asks for charter extension to Feb. 28, 2026

The Los Alamos Inclusivity Task Force on Zoom approved a set of slides for an interim presentation to the County Council and voted to request an extension of its charter through Feb. 28, 2026, to finish working-group reports and produce a consolidated final recommendation.

The task force chair moved to adopt the presentation slides for the Tuesday council meeting; after revisions discussed in the session the membership approved the slides and agreed staff will file a report to put the extension request before council. The task force then voted to ask the council to extend the task force deadline to Feb. 28, 2026; members said the additional months would allow working groups to finish draft recommendations and for the full task force to knit those results into a single, cohesive report.

The meeting opened with a public comment from Janine Fales, a volunteer at the White Rock demonstration garden, who said the garden is a public site run by Master Gardeners with Los Alamos County Parks and that the volunteers are planning an inclusive surface for a sensory garden. “It is a public garden that we, the Master Gardeners, do in concert with the Los Alamos County Parks Department,” Fales said.

Nut graf: The session summarized progress across five working groups — LGBTQ+, Accessibility, Justice (placeholder), BIPOC and Economic Equity — and captured near-term requests to county staff (continued access to raw data, help with training for boards and commissions, and a staff report to move the extension and presentation to the County Council). The task force prioritized finishing working-group assessments by November and using the winter months to integrate crosscutting recommendations.

Working-group highlights and outstanding issues

Accessibility: The Accessibility working group reported five tours and a focus on trail, library and senior-center access. Members proposed a short “low-hanging-fruits” list for immediate fixes (trail grading, parking and trailhead design, website accessibility checks, and hands-on library programming) and recommended the group conduct a needs assessment. The group documented concerns from vision-impaired residents about audible pedestrian signals, uneven sidewalks and blocked walkways; members noted some inputs came from interviews and added a qualifier that the material is qualitative.

Neurodiversity: The task force discussed a neurodivergent subgroup’s assessment of community programs and facilities. Members cautioned that “accessible” is an imprecise label for neurodivergence and suggested “welcoming” or “accommodating” better reflect whether people feel comfortable using a space. Several parents reported bullying and poor school responses as an ongoing concern; task force members discussed education and training for parents, children and school personnel as an initial step before pursuing legislative remedies.

Senior center and operations: A list of requests from the White Rock senior center director prompted debate. Some members said operational contract matters (rental income use, county vehicles for certified drivers, staffing models) should be handled through the county’s contract manager and not pushed as task-force recommendations; others suggested noting the suggestion that the county consider an in-house senior center program rather than a contractor as a possible future recommendation, to be vetted with staff.

LGBTQ+, BIPOC and economic equity work: The LGBTQ+ group is recruiting members and developing assessment questions. The BIPOC working group identified three to four focus areas (community volunteer body, county oversight of REI topics, sponsored community training, and expanded outdoor/recreation opportunities) and proposed researching guest-speaker inclusivity at the library, cultural visibility (e.g., Tiwa place names), bystander/upstander training and feasibility of a “library of things” (tools, equipment). The economic equity group is collecting initial data lines (housing, utilities, transportation) and plans to identify low-hanging policy items such as eliminating rental application fees.

Staffing and data support: Several working groups suggested the county consider the feasibility of a dedicated staff position to support inclusivity work; the BIPOC group and others proposed that the final November report should evaluate whether an ongoing employee is warranted. The task force requested continued county support for raw survey data and offered to coordinate with county staff to access the ADA assessment the county completed.

Decisions and next steps

- The task force approved the presentation slides for the upcoming County Council meeting with the edits discussed at the session.

- The task force voted to request that the County Council extend the task force charter to Feb. 28, 2026, to allow working groups to finish assessments and to give the full task force time to harmonize recommendations across groups.

- Staff agreed to prepare a staff report for the council reflecting the presentation and the extension request. Members agreed to finish working-group drafts by November and use the December–February window for cross-group integration and final report drafting.

Ending: The task force scheduled its next meeting for July 9 and asked sponsoring members to provide brief updates on recruitment, data collection and any obstacles before the council presentation. County staff and liaisons will continue to provide data and logistical support while the working groups complete their assessments.