Residents urge stewardship, veterans memorial and broader outreach during ICIP public comment

Multiple residents used the public-comment portion of Monday—s special meeting to endorse continued stewardship of village assets, recommend memorializing a local missing-in-action service member and press the board for broader public outreach.

Gwen Baldwin praised the ICIP process as a starting point for a community conversation about village assets and urged continued engagement. "This is the beginning of the process and I would encourage all of us to continue to be engaged," Baldwin said, supporting the idea of a deliberate, participatory approach to open-space and building reuse decisions.

Aliko Padilla, representing local veterans— groups, asked the trustees to support a statue commemorating a local MIA known as "Freddy," and suggested the roundabout at Fourth Street and El P. as a possible location. Padilla estimated a statue could cost about $100,000 or more and said he could gather letters of endorsement from American Legion and veterans groups.

Several commenters also raised concerns about the live Slido polling. Resident David Mononttoya said some people reported being unable to connect to the live poll and asked whether past community rankings would be included; staff answered that prior survey data had been folded into the cumulative ICIP packet and reiterated the ICIP was described as a "living document" that can be updated.

Mariana Deval Fuentes, a recent returnee to the Albuquerque area, thanked trustees for the conversational meeting format and volunteered to participate in future committees and outreach efforts.

Trustees acknowledged the comments, with several urging additional outreach—potentially a scientific survey or other recurring efforts—to capture a broader cross-section of residents and ensure equitable input into capital priorities.